Oh God Why - A RobinxSay'ri FanFiction
by NotTheManYou'reLookingFor
Summary: There were hardly any fanfics out there about Say'ri, so I wrote this. Don't ask how, don't ask why, because frankly, I'm not sure either. I hope you like reading it as much as I hated writing it. Say'ri is best wife.
1. Chapter 1

**-AUTHOR'S NOTE-  
Alright, listen, I didn't want to do this. And I didn't enjoy doing this.  
But Say'ri the most beautiful, perfect cinnamon roll of a character in FE:A, and I couldn't find shit about her, and that is a fucking problem. So I wrote this dump-heap of a story over a few days with the intention of making it pretty damn cliche and unoriginal, simply to fill the void of stuff of this character with the kind of regular fodder that there is of other characters. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I hated writing it.  
-**

"Jeez Robin, you feeling alright? You don't look like you slept a wink last night!"

"Thanks Lissa, and I hardly did, I can't stop thinking about the battle a few days ago."

"What do you mean?" The young war cleric asked.

"Well…" The tactician continued "I dunno, I just can't shake the feeling of being surrounded by all that fire out of my head. I think it might have scarred me or something."

It was now that Chrom interjected from across the war planning room aboard their vessel."You say it as if you haven't seen worse in three years you've been working with us."

"It's not so much the image I'm concerned about, just the feeling of it. It's like we're getting closer and closer to dying in each coming battle. Like the enemies we're facing are becoming steadily and progressively stronger as we face more more of them."

The prince and princess stared at him with a confused look for a minute, after which Lissa finally spoke up; "Man, you _really_ didn't sleep well last night, did you?"

"Do I really sound that crazy?" Robin asked. The other two both nodded in unison.

"Hah, alright, fair enough." He replied.

"For what it's worth," Chrom added "You've done an incredible job making sure none of the Shepherds have died yet, what with your policies and all." Chrom motioned his hand towards a piece of paper hanging on the wall that read "Robin's rules for survival; for sake preserving the life of all/as many of the shepherds as possible. 1) Do not engage in combat unless ordered to do so. 2)If you are wounded to the point where you are unable to fight, then retreat. 3) Help others who you have been assigned with in as many ways as possible"

Robin made those rules shortly into their first war against Plegia. His reasoning was that the Shepherds were some of the greatest fighters their nation had to offer, and are too valuable an asset to let die from something as petty as waiting too long to retreat. Plus, he had grown to be very good friends with the Shepherds, so he didn't want to lose any of them for his own purposes as well.

As the three of them stood in silence, Flavia entered the room. She and Basilio were notorious of oversleeping during their expedition. She had overheard their conversation, and started saying "Besides Robin, we're gonna need that head of yours clear, we should be hitting shore in about 5 hours."

"Yeah, which is also why we need to get to discussing strategy." Chrom added.

"Right, let's get to it then." Robin said as approached the planning board. Robin didn't hate his job. It was difficult, and terrifying a lot of the time, but it was necessary. It didn't take him many battles to realize that he really was a tactical genius, but at the same time, the constant fighting felt so… empty to him.

Not that he expected to find consolation in war, but all around the other Shepherds, his comrades, kept falling in love, getting married, and now some of their children from the future were starting to show up! He certainly wasn't lonely, he was friends with almost every other soldier in his company, but something was… missing. And he couldn't quite tell what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

**\- You've only read the beginning, you know. You can still leave. -**

The smaller boat hit the shore suddenly, rocking all the people inside. Robin knew there was going to be heavy armored resistance at the Valmese port, so he had to bring along some of his better units.

Chrom could tear up armor with his rapier, and his wife Sumia made for a difficult target against the slow Generals. Cordelia could use tomes from the back of her dark pegasus, and Frederick was equipped with an armorslayer in addition to his usual silver lance. Those four would have to lead the charge. His two paladins, Stahl and Sully, would provide backup for the main charge, and Lucina and Cynthia would do most of the fighting on the beach. Robin was accompanied by Lissa, they would remain in the core of the charge and heal and assist the leads in any way they could. Robin was used to fighting alone, and learned quickly, so he had become one of the Shepherds tougher units in addition to one of their smarter ones.

As the Shepherds exited their boat and started to mobilize, Chrom and Robin both noticed something; a woman wearing unusual purple armor, with two empty sword sheaths at her sides. She was being pursued by two Knights, but she stopped briefly enough by the door to notice the arrival of the Ylissean league. The two knights, however, continued their pursuit until they had pushed her into a corner; she had nowhere to run.

There was nothing more that Chrom and Robin hated in war than the death of innocents. Chrom told Robin "We're going to have to save her."

Robin called out to the soldiers behind him "Listen up, there's been a small change of plans; when we reach that intersection, Chrom and Sumia are going to split off from the bulk of the charge and help that woman, and Lissa and I will trail them. The rest of the charge will continue to focus on taking out the general!"

By the time Chrom and Sumia had reached her, the woman was severely wounded, and the two Knights were about to finish her. To an unarmed swordmaster, these knights were deadly. But to a great lord with a rapier, they turned out to be swift work. The woman was on her knees, gripping her sides and breathing heavily. Chrom quickly realized that she was in no shape to speak effectively. Robin was right behind them, and as he killed off the remaining resistance in the area he ordered Lissa to go heal her. Soon enough, the woman was back on her feet.

"Thank you milady, I am further in your company's debt." She said.

"Hey, anytime." Lissa replied "Wait, what do you mean 'further'?"

"Your healing added on to the debt I have to Prince Chrom for saving my life just now." She replied.

"Well, you evidently know who I am." Chrom said "What do you say we make that mutual?"

"Fie! Of course! I am Say'ri, princess of Chon'sin." She said while bowing "However my nation was taken at the start of Walhart's conquest. Since then I-"

Their conversation was interrupted by Robin yelling orders to his allies across the building.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but maybe we should save the chatting until after the fight." Chrom asked.

"Right, of course." she started to call towards Robin, who had moved to about twenty feet away to manage the others. "Sir Robin!" He quickly looked over his shoulder at the mention of his name, "Though I am unarmed, I am yours to command!"

Robin bit his lip a little in thought. He didn't have a weapon to give her, but the others were handling the battle easily. "Alright, just stay near me until the fighting's over, this ought to be done soon."

This prediction proved accurate, as shortly afterwards Frederick impaled their leader on the end of a nearly broken lance, and once the soldiers on the beach were taken care of, the harbor was theirs.


	3. Chapter 3

**\- THE DAIJOUBU IS BECOMING STRONG WITH THIS ONE -**

The Shepherds decided they would set up camp on the beach. There were no good fields nearby, so they had to improvise. After the battle, Say'ri had introduced herself to them as the leader of a revolution against the conqueror, but it was disorganized, chaotic, and was getting progressively weaker every day. She pleaded to Chrom that their company might assist her, to which they warily accepted.

Say'ri spent lots of time discussing with them what their next course of action should be, and also the issues surrounding her brother Yen'fay. As Robin was listening to this, hopelessly empathetic as he was, he started to realize the incredible amount of loss she had been through leading up to this point. Her nation been conquered, her parents murdered, and her brother had betrayed her. Yet, here she stood, seemingly unfazed by all of this.

Normally after dinner Robin would spend time reading tactical guidebooks, but tonight he decided he would visit Say'ri. If nothing else, he wanted to become as good friends with her as he was with everyone else in the shepherds. He approached the green, canvas tent they were able to provide to her, and used two knuckles to knock on one of the steel beams supporting it. He heard a small, startled noise come from the tent.

"Yes? Who is it?" She called out.

"It's Robin, can I open the door?" He said.

"Sir Robin! Of course! Yes, please come in." He lifted up the flap of the tent and saw Say'ri standing in the middle of the space. She turned and looked at him "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, well, I was just thinking that we might talk for a bit."

"Talk? Why, is there a meeting you'd like me to attend?"

"What? No, I- Just a friendly conversation, y'know?"

"Is there any particular occasion for this?"

"No, well- I'd just like to be better friends with you, is all. I like to be friends with as many of my allies as possible."

"I see... Then are you friends with everyone in the Shepherds?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Fie, there must be thirty of you here!"

"Yeah, it can be a little tricky to keep track of, but if I'm going to be fighting a war with them, I might as well be able to hold a conversation too."

"Fie, I've heard tales of how some of your soldiers were married to each other, but I had no idea that your bonds continued to such an extent!"

"Ha! Yeah, a handful of our guys did get together sometime between this war and the last. The war council was iffy about that, especially with Chrom and Sumia, they thought their bias might affect their judgement…"

"You're not in such a relationship, though."

"Nope- how did you know?"

"You don't wear a ring."

"Right, that makes sense…"

"Have you ever considered it?"

"Not really. As much as I'd love to get married someday, I can't help but think that right now it would only distract me, which is the last thing I need during this new war of ours."

"Of course, I'm sorry."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing?"

"For bringing you into this war. All you ever intended to do is stop the Valmese invasion of Regna Ferox, and now here you are aiming to overthrow the entire country. I asked you for help that I did not deserve, and I have no right to accept your hospitality."

"You know, you hardly even had to ask us."

"What?"

"As far as I'm concerned, once you had told us about everything you and your people had lost, Chrom and I were ready to help you out of pure sympathy. We were more or less waiting to see if you'd ask for our help, or if we'd just have to offer it to you."

"I- I am astounded by your benevolence."

"Ha! That's a first. Besides, I'd at least like to liberate Chon'sin. From what I've read it sounds pretty incredible."

"Fie, it is a truly amazing nation. I would give anything to see it rescued. You would be astounded by its culture."

"Maybe you could tell me sometime."

"I would be honored."

"How about Breakfast tomorrow?"

"Fie, there is more to say than I could ever fit into one meal's time!"

"Lunch and dinner too, then?"

"If you want to hear _everything_ I have to say, you'd better keep your meal plans open for at least the next week!" Both of them chuckled this. It was then that Robin realized that that was the first he had seen her smile since they recruited her, and he couldn't help but think that she was absolutely gorgeous when she did so.

At the same time, Say'ri started to realize that it was the first time she had smiled ever since the fighting started several years ago. They both started to swallow and fidget with these realizations. Eager to end the suddenly awkward conversation, Robin exclaimed "Well, I look forward to it."

"As do I, Robin."

"Am I no longer 'Sir Robin'?"

"I- Apologies, I meant no disrespect-"

Robin chuckled lightly while saying "I was kidding Say'ri, I prefer just 'Robin'."

"Fie, of course." She nodded, and smiled lightly. They inhaled as they suddenly got the awkward feeling again.

"Right, see you tomorrow then." Robin said while making his way out the door.

"See you then." Say'ri said behind him.

As robin was walking back to his tent, he started thinking about the conversation he just had again, thinking about her smile. Suddenly, his chest felt heavy, as if something was pulling it together, and his face felt very warm. He kept thinking and feeling this until he was interrupted by Lissa who ran up beside him and said "Geez Robin, are you ok? You look as red as a tomato, and you're breathing really heavily…"

"I dunno Lissa," he replied "My chest kinda hurts too…"

"Oh Gods, are you having a heart attack?!" She yelled back.

He laughed at this. "No, I think I'm good, maybe a little sick. I'm just gonna lie down for a bit."

"O-Ok, feel better soon." She said.

Meanwhile, after Robin had left, Say'ri had collapsed on her bed, her mind racing with thoughts. She tried to line up all the things going on in her head, for one the fact she had just laughed for the first time in years was a shock. Plus, she was the one who made the joke! But then there was Robin; he was the main reason she had laughed. Also, why was he being so generous to her? How could he be friends with his entire army? Why did he suddenly seem more handsome? Also, why did her chest suddenly hurt as she was thinking about him?


	4. Chapter 4

**\- No seriously, leave now, before it becomes too weabooey -**

"So, let me get this straight, you've _never_ had cheese or bread until yesterday?!"

"No, and I doubt that you have ever had rice, have you?"

"One time in a restaurant, actually. Don't really remember what it tasted like, though."

"Rice makes up the majority of our diet in Chon'sin. If you truly ever intend to visit there, you had better become fond of it!"

Robin and Say'ri had been talking the entire breakfast about Chon'sinian culture, and had were in the middle of talking about armor when they were interrupted by the end of their meal time. Once again, their conversation ended with a very pretty smile followed by a very awkward feeling. Stranger yet, the feeling seemed to be getting worse for both of them.

The Shepherds were going to spend the entire day marching. They were going to the Mila tree, to see the voice of Naga. Say'ri had informed them that this was their best course of action. It was going to be a long hike, and it was unlikely that they would make it there before nightfall. Even if they did, they would rather camp for a night and fight in the morning when they were well rested, rather than fatigued from a day of hiking.

Horse-drawn carts carried most of the gear, Shepherds who didn't have horse or Pegasi to ride had to trade off who stay in the little cart space available, and who would have to walk. The only exception to this was Robin and Chrom, who remained on horseback at the front of the caravan for the entire hike. Say'ri was staying in a cart near the front, but out of earshot of Chrom and Robin. She was sharing the space with Lissa and Maribelle; they got their own cart due to their royal status.

Robin and Chrom talked for most of the ride, but eventually Chrom asked "Hey Robin, how's Say'ri doing?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you two were talking for all of breakfast this morning, seems as if you've grown to be pretty good friends."

"Haha, yeah. We were talking about Chon'sin culture. Sounds like an amazing place, honestly. I'd love to see it sometime. Say'ri offered to take me once she had rebuilt it. So yeah, we've become friends pretty quickly-" Robin was speaking quicker than usual, and was a little short on breath.

"Um, Robin?" Chrom started.

"Huh?" Robin turned, and saw Chrom staring curiously at his face.

"Are you… Blushing?" As Chrom asked this he started to grin.

"I- I dunno, am I?" Robin felt his face, and realized that it had the same warm feeling again.

"Yes. Definitely. You look like a clown that went too heavy on the red makeup." Chrom replied, nodding and desperately holding back laughter. Robin held up a piece of polished metal on his horse's armor that was reflective enough to confirm the fact; he was bright red.

"Robin, you don't happen to love her, do you?" Chrom asked excitedly.

"I, um… Maybe? How do you tell?" Robin answered confused and slightly embarrassed. Robin knew that no one else was hearing their conversation, but he was still cautious about it.

"Ha! The greatest tactical mind of Ylisse can't even tell when he's in love! Guess there aren't any guidebooks on that, are there?"

"Not really, no." Robin replied "There is one about the influence that romance and other emotions can have on a tactician's judgement, but none that involve actually getting to the whole romance part."

"That's rich," Chrom started "You can read the actions of your enemies like a psychic, but then you can't even figure out your own emotions!"

"Chrom, I mean it, how do I tell if I'm in love." Robin replied sternly.

"Damn, you're really serious about her, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Yes. I mean, whenever I talk to her it just feels so natural. She tells me these great things about her and her people, and listening to them just further convinces me what an incredible person she is. But then she starts talking about her family, and everything she's lost, and the misery she's gone through up until now, and I feel terrible! Why would such awful things happen to such an amazing person?!

"But then she smiles, and she has this smile where whenever I see it I just instinctively think 'Gods, she is pretty', and suddenly my chest hurts, like something's squeezing it. No, more like it's being crushed, like there's some heavy mass weighing down on it, and suddenly I can't think straight, and my face feels hot, and we end up just sitting there for a few moments and usually end up ending the conversation. I don't get it! If I love this woman why do I feel so awkward whenever I think about her?! Do you know why? ...Chrom?"

Chrom had been sitting silently, taking in Robin's extensive rant, to which he finally replied after a moment of silence "...Wow. You're serious?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I'm serious, and I have no idea what to do about it."

"Well, I can tell you one thing; you're definitely in love."

"Thanks, real comprehensive. Isn't there any advice you can give me? How did you fall in love with Sumia."

"Well, that was easy; I already knew that she was obsessed with me, so it was simply a matter of me learning to love her, which was easy. But you've got no idea if your emotion is mutual, do you?"

"Not in the least." Robin replied, sighing. "Maybe I'll ask Lissa, she'll have some solid advice."

"Ha! You're probably right about that. She's gotta be the most sociable person in the army."

"Alright, if you see her around, tell her I'm looking for her."

"Will do, Robin."


	5. Chapter 5

**\- Well, great. Now you're in it for the long run, aren't you? -**

"Say'ri! Say'ri, wake up!"

"Darling, let me handle this."

"Wait, what are y- MARIBELLE!"

Say'ri woke up very suddenly, after a sharp pain had entered the side of her face. She looked over, and saw Maribelle and Lissa kneeling beside her, the former of which still holding a white glove. As she started to realize what had just happened, her look of confusion turned into a frown.

"Milady, why did you wake me up in such a violent manner? ...By Gods, are we under attack?! How could they hav-"

"You were sleep talking. " Lissa interrupted.

"...sleep talking?" Say'ri replied.

"You know, vocalizing whatever it is you're dreaming about?"

"I'm familiar with it. I have been told I do it often in this past. Is it really so obnoxious to you?"

"Well, darling, it's just that…" Maribelle replied "Some of the things you were saying were rather… problematic."

"'Problematic'? I am told that I normally speak about my past. Memories of Chon'sin, it's destruction, my brother… I don't understand how that is 'problematic'."

"Well, you definitely weren't talking about your brother this time." Lissa stated.

"Think;" Maribelle added "What is it that you were just dreaming about?"

As Say'ri contemplated this, her eyes widened as her face of anger turned into fear.

"... You don't mean that I-" Say'ri started to say

"Do you seriously like him that much? 'Cause if you like him as much as you were just saying you did, then like, damn you mu-"

"Lissa! Language!" Maribelle retorted.

"What? You gotta admit, she's pretty obsessed with him. And I mean, I totally see it happening-"

"Silence!" Say'ri interrupted. The two girls immediately turned their attention to the now blushing Say'ri. "Do you honestly mean to tell me that I have speaking in my sleep, saying that I am madly in love with Robin?"

"Yeah, that's the gist of it." Lissa bluntly replied.

"For how long?!" Say'ri asked.

"Don't worry darling, it wasn't long enough for anyone else to hear you, not loud enough either." Maribelle answered.

Say'ri sighed heavily, and said "Well then, I suppose I should thank you for waking me..."

The three of them sat in silence, Say'ri deep in anxious thought, Maribelle and Lissa sitting uncomfortably.

Finally Say'ri said "You're not going to tell anyone, right?"

Even if they didn't know how gifted a fighter she was (which was threatening enough), something about the look she gave them conveyed so much vehemence that it seemed as if she could silence a dragon with it.

"Of course, darling! you're secret is totally safe with us! We won't so much as peep a word about it to anyone, right Lissa?"

It took Lissa a second to respond as she was still slightly paralyzed by Say'ri's deadly glare. "R-Right! Yeah! I won't tell anyone… But, _you're_ going to have to eventually, right?"

Say'ri now looked at Lissa with a more quizzical and slightly less intimidating look. Lissa continued "I-I mean, if you really do love him so much, you should tell him, right?"

"You would mean for me to express romantic emotion to a man who I just met yesterday? Are you mad?! I already owe so much to him, and all of you. The last thing I should do is try to make him love me."

"You sound so sure that he wouldn't love you back." Lissa added.

"I can't take any chances. Besides, he already told me that he isn't looking to be in a romantic relationship. Not during the war, anyway. Gods, my chest hurts."

"Your chest hurts?" Lissa asked.

"Fie, yes, it happens every time I think about him. the more romantic the thought, the more hurtful the grip. I assume that this is what love feels like, but I don't know why it would be so painful!"

It was now that Lissa remembered how she had found Robin the day before; walking towards his tent, his chest was hurting, and he was blushing. And here Say'ri was, claiming these same feelings to be love. But that makes no sense, if Robin didn't want to be in a romantic relationship, then who was he in love with? What if he loved Say'ri? That would incredible! It would be so easy! But then, what if it was someone else? What if Say'ri ran up to him thinking that he loved her, but then he told her that he was actually into Tharja or somebody like that? Poor Say'ri would be heartbroken! As if she needed more heartbreak in her life! Lissa didn't know what to think, and it was finally Maribelle who broke the silence by saying "Say'ri, you're afraid to tell Robin you love him because you feel inferior and indebted to him. But you mustn't embrace that. I married Ricken when he was in a financially inferior situation to me because he didn't seem helpless. Sure, he was going through rough times, but he didn't let that make him seem any less strong or charming than if he were the richest man in the world! That is what you must do if you want Robin to admire you; You must not play the helpless victim!"

"Yeah, I'm with Maribelle! Just keep on being admirable, and I'm sure that Robin will fall for you!" LIssa added.

Say'ri sighed, and looked at them both and said "Thank you, this conversation has been… comforting to me. I am in your de-"

She was about to finish her sentence, when both Lissa and Maribelle raised their eyebrows so as to imply "rethink your next statement".

"-I hope that we might converse again in the future." Say'ri concluded.


	6. Chapter 6

**\- You've read 4,460 words of complete garbage. Are you happy yet? -**

As she sat in the dining tent that evening waiting for Robin to arrive for their planned conversation, she kept repeating her new goals to herself in her mind. "Remember Say'ri; confidence, be admirable, don't play the helpless victim." When Robin did arrive, they continued chatting about Chon'sin. Or rather, Say'ri spoke about Chon'sin to Robin. The poor man said seldom a few words; not only was he tense from his newly declared acceptance that he was, in fact, in love with her. But also he couldn't help but be completely infatuated with her. She seemed different, more bold, courageous. He couldn't tell if this hopeless interest was a product of his first concern, or if for whatever reason she was consciously trying to have more presence. No, that doesn't make sense, why would she do that? Both of them would look back on this moment later and laugh about incredibly blind they both were.

At any rate, with her new confidence, Say'ri had become much more comfortable with smiling. It would be years before Say'ri would stop thinking that she was in debt to Robin, but at least she was learning to be more friendly.

When dinner finally ended, Robin sought out to find Lissa. Chrom had already warned her earlier by simply saying to her "Hey, Robin's wants to talk to you, and buckle up 'cause it's gonna get pretty heavy." When he finally did find the young princess, they quickly determined that they had both been looking forward to this meeting. First thing that Robin did was bring her into his tent. Frederick had soundproofed it some time ago because of some issue involving birds, so Robin had nothing to worry about.

"Why do we need to discuss it here? Is it something private?" Lissa asked.

"Yes, very private. In fact, first things first, can you keep a secret?" He asked

"Sure, if I have to."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"Yes! I can keep a secret!"

"..."

"I can!"

"Alright, fine, listen, you're social right?"

"A lot of the Shepherds seem to like me, if that's what you mean."

"Yeah, more or less. I need some advice regarding that."

"Talking to people? You seem great at it, what're you worried about?"

"I think I'm in love with one of the other Shepherds."

Lissa was speechless at this. Robin simply assumed that she was surprised, which she was, but more than he would ever know. He continued "I'm in love with one of the Shepherds, and I have no idea what to do. How to tell her, how to know if she likes me back, I need your help here Lissa."

Lissa was still speechless. One of her suspicions from earlier that day had been confirmed; Robin was in love with someone. But now the big question was "who?" Should she ask him? Will he tell her? What if it's Say'ri? Should I tell him that she loves him too? Should I tell her that she loves him? What if it's someone else? Then what?!

"Um, Lissa, are you ok?"

No answer.

"Oh gods, what am I saying, what am I doing worrying about love?! I shouldn't be falling in love! I should be-" At this Lissa finally snapped out of it.

"No! You should definitely fall in love! But I- OK, who is it that you like?"

"I can't just tell you that!"

"How else can I help you then?"

"Is that really so necessary?"

"Yes! Absolutely!"

Robin was very hesitant, but after a few moments of silence, he finally said "Alright, I already told Chrom, so how much can it hurt to tell you. It's Say'ri."

Conventional dynamite explosives hadn't been invented yet at that time, but if Lissa had known what it was and the effect it had on its environment, that would have been an effective representation of her thought process at that moment in time.

She had to make her plan, and what she decided on was the following; she would tell Say'ri that Robin loved her, and make some plan for her to confess that to Robin that would work in accordance with whatever she told Robin right now. She had spent countless hours in advance to this moment figuring out ways to prank Robin, and this was no different to her. She thought up her plan in an instant.

"OK, Robin, my best advice that I can give to you is to just remain very understanding towards her."

"Understanding?"

"She's been through a lot in recent days, and you just need to be really willing to accept whatever she does or whatever happens to her, and she'll just eventually realize this, and like you, alright?"

"Alright, ok yeah that makes sense."

"Also, calm! Remain calm! Girls love a guy who stay relaxed even when things are going against him."

"I'm the tactician, that might as well be in my job description."

"Exactly, and that's why you'll be great at it!"

"Alright, ok, thanks Lissa."

"My pleasure! Really! I'm gonna go now!"

She hurriedly exited the tent, hardly giving Robin the time to say goodbye. He was a little curious as to why she left in such a hurry, but he quickly dismissed the thought, assumed she must have had to use the bathroom or something.

"Understanding, huh?" He thought to himself. "I can be understanding, this shouldn't be too difficult."


	7. Chapter 7

**\- Great, now you're 5,377. Can you stop now? -**

"Milady, are you sure about this? This seems too… informal. It doesn't feel very romantic."

"Just trust me, alright? And whatever happened to 'don't call me milady, just say Lissa?' Also, you're right, the beginning isn't supposed to be super romantic, alright? Don't you want this to be memorable?"

"Memorable, yes, but not some silly thater act."

"Hey!"

"Ah well, I miscount my blessings. If this truly will unite us as you anticipate, then I am eternally indebted to you.

"No you're not."

"Fie, of course I a- Right! I'm not! I am thankful that you would catalyze our relationship like this, not indebted."

"That's the spirit. Alright, good luck!"

Say'ri and Lissa's plan would have to wait, however, for today was the day that they would be recapturing the Mila Tree. They were attacking in the early morning, so there was no time for breakfast. As much as his mind had been thinking about love in recent days, today Robin's mind focused on nothing but the battle he was about to face.

His battlefield was unusual, with its roots and bodies of water pestering with mobility. There were too many archers for the fliers to lead the charge, so it would be up to his mounted units. Stahl and Sully would be invaluable in this battle, with Frederick (being supported by Cordelia's magic) also proving useful. Those two groups would lead a central charge, then split leaving an open space for the bulk of their force, led by Robin and Say'ri, to push through and take out the general and his guards. All the while, other pairs including Ricken and Maribelle, Chrom and Sumia, and Lon'qu and Olivia would be breaking off from the main surge killing as many soldiers as they could.

Robin knew that there would reinforcements coming from the south, so he wanted this battle done with as quickly as possible. Also, this would be all of their first chances to see Say'ri engaged in any combat outside of the training room. Again, from fighting alone regularly, Robin had grown to be one of the greatest fighters in their company, but after watching Say'ri's demonstration of skill and strength, it was hard to say if either one of them was any greater than the other. While Robin conjured magic that repelled enemies if it didn't kill them in a single hit, Say'ri moved like a tornado, slicing anything in her way with incredible speed and precision.

Despite how used to solidarity they were on the battlefield, the two managed to apply remarkable teamwork. When an arrow skimmed Say'ri's side, robin already had an elixir prepared for her. When an enemy berserker was about to throw a tomahawk directly at Robin, Say'ri took his arm clean off. In one episode, a general smashed Say'ri with his shield, causing her be spun around 180 degrees, straight into Robin. Robin was ready to catch and stop her, but not without accidently interlocking fingers with her. If they weren't too focused on combat, they would've addressed it more, but their hearts definitely started beating a little faster after that.

Finally, Robin and Say'ri reached the leader. He was an imposing figure, with facial hair to match. Say'ri recognized him immediately. "Robin, that is Cervantes. Though he may not look it, he's supposed to be one of Walhart's finest men."

"'May not look it'?!" Cervantes called out to them "Are you questioning the majesty of my beard?!"

To this one of his soldiers turned around and said to his general "Sir, what is this about a tapestry?"

"No, MAJESTY you fool!" The now further enraged general called out. Robin saw that he was distracted, and used the chance to try and land a thoron on him. But, he turned out to be quicker than Robin expected, as he raised shield in time to absorb the blow. "You're not the only one who can attack from a range, foolish tactician!" He cried as he hurled his tomahawk in Robin's direction. robin narrowly dodged it, but not without Cervantes giving him a haircut. Speaking of which, Say'ri had been making her way behind the general. She jumped and struck vertically in hopes of cutting the man's skull open. However, he turned around at the last second, and instead of an explosion of blood there was an explosion of brown hair as her blade just skimmed his nose, and removed at least a third of the fur off his face.

She hit the ground in front of him, and turned around quickly to see him paralyzed in misery and terror. "M-My beard… I can't win without my beard in perfect condition! Everyone retreat, we must recover, and live to fight another day!"

Their forces had evacuated within half a minute, and the shepherds did not pursue them, they had to go to the Mila Tree. Although it would not be the last time they traded blows with General Cervantes.


	8. Chapter 8

**\- Alright, hold on to your body pillow you fucking weeaboo 'cause you've made it to the damn confession scene. -**

Once their business in the Mila Tree had been settled, the Shepherds set up camp in a nearby field. It was Spring, so the grass was a lush green, and it was about three in the afternoon once everyone had gotten settled. Say'ri and Robin briefly reflected on the battle they just fought, but Say'ri remained silent for most of it. It was part of her plan with Lissa that she would be rather timid, but for that part, she didn't have to act.

"You've been awfully quiet today Say'ri. Something on your mind?" Robin asked.

That was it, the question Say'ri needed to start the skit.

"Fie, apologies Robin, my head swims with memories of Chon'sin lately…"

"I hope that it wasn't my asking about your culture and all that brought this on. In which case, it should be I whose apologizing; that's not at all what I intended to happen."

"No, it's fine. Better than fine. Because in those memories I have found a way forward.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, these memories are no longer sad to me, you see. In fact, I have found a man, at whose side I believe I would feel at home."

"So… you're in love?" Robin's heart sank, but he had to remind himself; understanding, and stay calm.

"Indeed, I have a found a man who I have become hopelessly attracted to. He has been incredibly generous to me, and is so exceptionally kind and handsome that I am afraid to tell him this, as I can't help but feel indebted to him. He truly is unrivaled in his benevolence, and even though I have known him for so little time, I would sacrifice everything I have to be with him." It took everything Say'ri had to contain herself.

"Wow, sounds like quite a guy. Have I met him?" Robin said, completely subjected to Lissa's ruse, and feeling inferior to whoever this hyperbolic praise was directed towards.

"I believe that you know of him, but don't completely appreciate the things that he has done for me." Say'ri smiled, both to be in character, and in appreciation of the wittiness of the line she had just used.

"Huh. Well, if he's so amazing, I'd certainly like to get to know him better."

It was at this point that Say'ri began to laugh. She rested her forehead in both her hands, before finally saying "Oh Robin, I feel so guilty for tricking you like this but," she looked Robin straight in the eye as she moved her hands from her head and held them together in front of her. "The man who I speak of is you!"

Robin moved his head slightly, completely perplexed, and simply replied "What?"

At this point Say'ri's entire face was bright red as she said "Oh Robin, I have grown so incredibly fond of you, and I can only hope that you will return this emotion." She moved closer to him and moved her hands to the space between his neck and his shoulders.

Robin started to smile larger than he ever had before as his mind was suddenly overtaken by pure joy. He wrapped his arms around her torso, and picked her up into a giant hug. She let out a small scream at first, but started to laugh uncontrollably along with Robin as he spun around again and again.

Finally he put her down, but kept his arms wrapped around her upper body, one hand on the back of her head.

"Oh Gods, Say'ri, I love you too! You're the most incredible woman I've ever met, and I would give anything to spend the rest of my life with you!"

Say'ri was blushing at these compliments, and her mouth was beaming along with Robin's.

"Robin, you have allowed me to find joy within the darkest time of my life, and I am endlessly thankful for that. Our hearts shall be bound together for the rest of our lives."

They were staring into each other's eyes when Robin added "Did I ever tell you that you look especially beautiful when you smile?"

She wasn't used to such a direct compliment, so she started to look down and close her eyes in embarrassment. But then Robin moved one of his arms from her back to the side of her face, and said "Hey, that isn't your signal to look away!" as he lifted her head back up to be looking at him. They had been moving closer to each other throughout their conversation, to the point that when they were looking right at each other their noses were nearly touching.

It was now, with one of his hands on the back of her head, the other on the side of her face, and her hands interconnected resting on the back of his neck, that they inhaled, closed their eyes, let their smiles fade, and moved together until their lips were finally touching.

They held the kiss for about four seconds, until they pulled back to look at each other. The experience was absolutely electrifying, and they only looked at each other for a couple seconds before returning to kissing. This time, they continued to do so for about ten seconds, pulling themselves closer to each other, embracing the heavenly feeling until they were interrupted by Say'ri starting to feint.

Robin had to catch her, and rest her on a nearby bench. He sat down next to her and held her hand. She had her other hand on her forehead as she said "Robin, I'm sorry, it was so much emotion and joy to take in that I just- Oh Gods, I'm so happy. Thank you Robin."

"You have nothing to apologize or thank me for," Robin replied "because I don't think it's even possible that you could be any more joyful than I am right now." They both laughed out of pure happiness.

"Also, I still want to see Chon'sin once the war is done. I'd like to see a place that could create someone as incredible as you."

"And then there we might be joined under the cherry trees, as one… Oh Gods, but if you are to marry into the royal family, then you will have to assist in rebuilding the country. I'm sorry that you would have to marry into a nation in shambles."

"Say'ri, I'm about to lead a puny army against that of a man who half the people on this continent call a god. I think I can handle some rebuilding further down the road. And again with apologizing! If we are to be in love, then the first thing I want is no debts. Any weight that we bear, we're going to bear together, alright?"

Say'ri considered this sentence, and finally responded "You know, this is what I meant by 'unrivaled benevolence' earlier."

"Wait, you meant all of that stuff?"

"Of course, my respect and gratefulness to you is infinite. I've never met anyone quite as incredible."

"Oh Gods, now I'm getting embarrassed by _your_ compliments! How the tables have turned!"

Jokingly, Say'ri added "How the scales have tipped!"

Laughing, Robin replied "Hey, that's my line!"


	9. Chapter 9

**\- Hope you didn't dry yourself out on your sheets already, 'cause this chapter's gonna get spicy. -**

"Oh come on! You two are made for each other! Tell me, have you had a single awkward moment ever since you admitted you loved each other?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Exactly! You two just kiss and are suddenly are all happy again! Like last night at the tactics meeting! Robin was getting-"

"Lissa, please let her talk."

"Thank you, Robin."

Robin winked at her so as to say "my pleasure".

Say'ri continued "I simply can't help but think that we should be recognized as a couple for longer than five days before we start sharing a tent. That symbolizes an incredibly strong bond between people and this just feels too… immediate."

"Oh, yeah, 'immediate'." Lissa replied. "Says the girl who fell in love after knowing the guy for only a day and a half."

"Says the girl who made a plan to pair them together." Robin added.

"Hey! I saw the opportunity, and I took it! And then it was super romantic too, right?"

"'Saw the opportunity'?!" Say'ri rebutled "Is our love some kind of silly game to you?!"

"Jeez, do you two even love each other?"

In unison, both Robin and Say'ri asked in an appalled manner "Excuse me?!"

"I mean," Lissa replied "If you two are as madly in love as everyone thinks you are, then why are so afraid of sleeping with each other? It's not like you're gonna end up having sex or anything. Heck, you're the one who made that rule, Robin! And thank the gods you did!"

"I am completely aware of this rule," Say'ri responded, starting to blush "but it is simply unorthodox to-"

Robin placed his hand on Say'ri's shoulder, and she turned to face him "Say'ri, maybe we should at least give it a chance, alright?"

Say'ri couldn't say no to him, and that was mutual, so reluctantly she sighed and said "Very well, I shall try it for a night, and forge any further opinions from there."

Robin didn't sleep with a shirt on. He couldn't stand the feeling of it, much to Say'ri's further discomfort. He only wore pajama pants over his smallclothes, while Say'ri wore a thin, light shirt and pants over hers. When they went to sleep the night before, they were separate, but facing each other. They were both comfortable with this arrangement, but as Robin started to wake up with the increasing sunlight, he immediately noticed that their positions had changed. Say'ri was now curled under his arm, with her head resting on his shoulder, his hand on her upper arm, and her arm across his chest. Robin twitched a little in surprise at this realization, which was enough to wake up Say'ri. She looked up to face Robin, still half asleep, and not at all aware of her position. Even with her hair a complete mess, she still looked beautiful to Robin.

She smiled and said "Good morning, Robin." Robin was fond of addressing her with phrases like 'honey' or 'sweetie', but Say'ri continued to call him by name.

Robin smiled back and said "So much for 'non-intimate sleeping positions', huh?"

It was now that Say'ri looked at herself and acknowledged where she was. Her face turned bright red, and she sat up quickly. Robin joined her in that action.

"Robin, I- I'm so sorry, I must've done this in my sleep, I had no inten-"

Robin cut her off by pulling her into a kiss. When he stopped, she still looked rather confused. He smiled at her, and brought her into a hug. Her head was resting on his shoulder when she sighed, and said "Robin, we really shouldn't be this intimate with each other after only knowing each other for a week."

Robin let go and faced her, his hands on her shoulders, and said "Say'ri, I've become so incredibly fond of you, it feels as if we've been in love for years."

She laughed a little, and said "Oh Robin, how much I agree with you. But it simply isn't normal to-"

"Who's to say that we're a normal couple?" Robin interrupted.

"What?"

"Well I mean, here we are, a rebel princess and an amnesiac tactician fighting a war against the largest army on the planet with not even a hundred men in our company. We should be on the end of a spear at this point, but instead we're here, in the middle of our enemy's territory, kissing each other in a tent. I say that if there's a good chance that we'll die later today, we should enjoy what time we have together as much as we can."

"Robin, please don't say that."

"Say what?"  
"The part about us dying. I've lost so much that I loved already, and I don't want to think about losing you."

"Right, I'm sorry. But I do mean it. We should at least be making the most of the time we have together while we're still madly in love." Unbeknownst to them, they would have much more of that time than they expected.

Say'ri giggled at this, and replied by simply saying "Alright, I'll try to be more romantic from now on."

"That's the spirit." They kissed again, which was followed by Robin saying "Come on, we have to get dressed already."

As they were doing so, Robin said "Oh, and as for the whole sleeping positions thing, I have absolutely no problem with the prettiest girl I know wanting to rest her head on my shoulder while I'm asleep."

Say'ri laughed, and responded by saying "I can't tell if you're allowing me to do so, or inviting me."

Robin started laughing loudly at this, and finally responded by saying "You know, I think I'll let you decide on that one..."

Say'ri smiled at him as she said "I think I've already got my answer."

Robin looked over as Say'ri winked playfully at him. His eyebrows raised in surprise by her sudden change in demeanor. She laughed, and exclaimed "Now it is I who is making you blush! I do enjoy this new, romantic behavior!"


	10. Chapter 10

**\- If nothing else, don't write fanfiction for how much of a kick in the dick fight scenes are to describe. -**

"Shepherds! Pull back! Stay out of the flames, Say'ri and I can handle Yen'fay!"

Robin was shouting orders to his comrades. They fell back to the safety of the shrinking amount of solid ground. Robin was killing of the last of the soldiers in the area, narrowly dodging lava plumes, as Say'ri slowly approached her brother.

Yen'fay was waiting for her, completely unfazed by the laval around him, his sword still sheathed at his side. Say'ri, however, was enraged. She had a scar on her face from the many battles she had fought to reach him, and her killing edge was still stained with the blood of the enemies she had befallen. Once she was about ten feet away from him, she held her sword in front of her in a combat position.

She spoke up to him, and said "Brother. I won't ask you why... We are well beyond that point now. I will speak it plain: I cannot forgive you, and neither can I let you live."

Yen'fay looked her directly in the eye, and calmly said to her over the roaring sound of the lava around them "I've asked you for nothing, Sister, least of all your forgiveness."

Say'ri was furious. She yelled at her brother, completely enraged, "But you will have my justice, like it or no! You, who stood by in silence while everyone around you suffered! While villages were razed and fields burned, you watched but said nothing... When father and mother were murdered—you said nothing! Nothing, before you ran to the arms of the one man responsible for all of it! Your silence was deafening. Maddening. Even now...have you nothing to say?!"

He didn't speak. He couldn't even think of what to say.

Say'ri's patience had run out. She wanted nothing more than to make her brother see vengeance. "Damn you, Yen'fay! Then I will make your sword answer for you! Draw your blade, and let it sing your final words!"

Yen'fay listened to her, and finally presented a brilliant, golden blade that split off the sides into six razor sharp branches. It was a famous artifact of Chon'sin, but it had been tempered and reforged to be usable in combat again. It further infuriated Say'ri to see him defile such a sacred ornament.

She charged at him, putting all of her muscle into her strikes, desperately trying to land a hit. Yen'fay, however, was only defending, showing incredible focus as he blocked every one of his sister's strikes. He was incredibly calm and collected, the exact opposite of Say'ri, who's looked as if her very eyes were on fire.

Yen'fay continued to defend, until Say'ri held her blade and asked "What are you doing? Will you not aim to strike back? Are you testing me? Or are you trying to tire me out so I make an easier target? It will not work, for I will not strike again until you take an offensive position! there's no hope in attacking a swordsman who won't fight back. You're the one who taught me that, remember?!"

Yen'fay's face twitched slightly at this remark, and then he moved to attack. He was stronger than Say'ri, and the teeth of his blade called for unusual technique. Say'ri managed to block and dodge his attacks, but eventually one of the blade's branches hit her side. The cut was about an inch deep, and just under five inches long, but Say'ri hardly twitched when the blade landed. Yen'fay stopped for a second, and for the first time that battle wore a look of surprise, almost like a smile, at Say'ri's endurance.

It was during this pause that Yen'fay heard something behind him. He turned around just as Robin was making a huge vertical strike with his levin sword. Yen'fay blocked it, but Say'ri took this opportunity to charge at her brother. He knocked Robin's sword away, and turned to face her. But he was too slow; just as he turned to block her strike, she had impaled the entire length of her blade into his core.

"Say'ri... You have grown...so strong…" He muttered.

"...Do...do you mock me?" Say'ri asked, "I have seen your best swordplay...that was not it. You went easy on me...but why?"

"What I could not tell you in life... I say with my death…"

"But, Yen'fay…"

"You have found...strong comrades... I no longer need fear for you... ...I die...in peace…"He said with his final breaths.

"Yen'fay, wait! What do you mean? Why?! Don't leave me with more silence—not this time! Yen'fay!"

Robin placed his hands on Say'ri's shoulders and said "Say'ri, we have to get out of here, the ground is ready to collapse beneath us!"

She got up, but not before picking up her brother's blade and observing the blood stain where he had landed a strike on her. Then they both ran back to the rest of the shepherds, and they all made their escape. Say'ri's head was swimming with questions about her brother, all of which would be answered shortly after the battle.


	11. Chapter 11

**\- Ta-da! The mandatory long-ass chapter about Say'ri learning the truth about her brother! -**

"I say, I do think I'll do this whole "truth telling" thing more often! Anyways, I suppose I had better take my leave. Oh! And sorry about Yen'fay! Heehee!"

Excellus was still snickering as he teleported away, leaving the now shocked Shepherds standing in complete awe.

Say'ri fell to her knees and looked at the golden blade in her hands. When she saw that it was still stained with her blood, she started to cry harder. Robin didn't know whether or not he should try and comfort her. Nothing could have prepared him for the knowledge they had all just acquired.

Say'ri was still crying, and her voice was broken as she started to say "Yen'fay… What have I done… Why didn't you… just tell me..."

Robin's eyes were watering as well. As he stood there in misery, he came to a realization. Yen'fay and Say'ri truly were complete opposites. One of them faced conflict with submission, the other with rebellion. One of them valued justice over family, the other valued family over his own life. One of them died because his sister would be safe, the other killed her brother because it would just. The only thing they had in common was that, despite their actions, they did love each other at heart. Like Yin and Yang, though they were complete opposites, they did share some similarities, and those would come to define them more than their differences.

"I… I can't go on like this." It was at this statement that the others faces of remorse suddenly turned to concern. Robin started to raise his arms in preparation to console her.

"I-I'm sorry… everyone… but I can't possibly live with the shame…"

Say'ri moved her hands to the handle of the blade, and started to turn it to be pointing at herself. Robin lunged forward and grabbed her wrist to stop her from rotating the blade any further. She closed her eyes and started to say "Robin I-"

"No way," he started "you are not about to die on me. You're shocked, and depressed, so you're not thinking straight. It happens to us all, just please put the blade down."

She didn't budge. She kept staring at Amatsu as the tears continued to stream down her face.

"Just ask Chrom, alright? When his sister died, he was ready to run straight into Plegia castle alone-"

"This is different Robin!" She was yelling at him. "I killed him! He died at my hands! My own flesh and blood! How can I ever hope to forgive myself for this?!"

"Yes, you did kill him." He was yelling back with a mix of anger and misery. "You killed him because he let you. He allowed you take his life so that you could keep yours, and what would he want to be doing with that, huh? Certainly not just throwing it away! He died so that you could live, and if you truly wish to honor his death, then you will _not_ let that be in vain!"

Say'ri was looking at him in shock, until she looked down and said quietly "You're right… he did die so that I could live…" She finally dropped her sword, and covered her eyes as she started to cry. Robin used the hand that was on her wrist to slowly move the blade away from her.

"Poor Yen'fay…" she continued, as she kept on crying into her hands. "...Poor, stupid Yen'fay!" She yelled this as her hands closed into fists. "I still don't understand, why didn't he tell me?! I- I could've played along! I could have joined the ruse! I… I could have-"

Robin stopped her by turning her face to be looking at him. "If you had joined Yen'fay, then Walhart would have conquered the world. Chon'sin would have no hope of ever knowing freedom, and neither would we." Robin motioned towards the other Shepherds around him.

"There's no one to blame for this but Walhart." Robin continued. "Him and his war has led all of us to do things that we wouldn't dream of doing otherwise. Whether it be murder, theft, or even betrayal, we all want revenge on him for a reason. And now, no one more than you. So it's up to you to keep fighting until you get it, alright?"

She was thinking about what Robin had just said, when she looked at the sword behind Robin and said "You're right. Walhart is to blame for his death, and it is up to me to avenge him."

Robin loosened his grip on her, convinced that he had effectively driven her away from suicide. She held his now more gentle hand in hers and said "Thank you, Robin. I… I don't know where I would be if I had never met you. It is embarrassing that you would have to save me from myself in addition to our usual enemies, but I am endlessly thankful for it."

After hearing her say something almost like a joke, he figured she had recovered enough to stand up. He offered his other hand and she took it. Once they were both standing they faced each other, and Robin said "I love you Say'ri, I'll save you from anything as long as it keeps you safe. If I ever lost you, then I think I would be the one who couldn't live with the shame."

Say'ri grinned a little, then rested her head on the inside of his shoulder, and started to cry into his cloak. He started to stroke her hair slowly. "There there, sweetie." He said. "Let it all out. It's gonna be alright. You'll learn to forgive yourself, and we're going to win this war, and we're going to get you your revenge. Together."


	12. Chapter 12

**\- Alright, listen up. As fucking salty as I may always be, I just imagine this moment being really significant to Robin and Say'ri's relationship. In reality, this war would've lasted like a freaking year, so they have been looking forward to this for a long-ass time and it's gon' be pretty damn special, alright? -**

"Walhart has retreated into his castle! Fie, will this war never end?!"

Robin was with Say'ri when this happened, and his heart sank. The resistance in the capital was going to be ten times that of what it was in the courtyard, and their army was still wounded from the battle they had just fought. What were they going to do? Their only hope of victory was if Walhart came back out, but that wasn't going to happen. Even with his ego, he was smarter than to make a move like that, and all of the Shepherds realized this. All they could do was hope Robin would find a solution that Robin quickly realized was going to be impossible in what little time they had before Walhart sent out more soldiers.

Suddenly they felt the ground shaking, as if there were an earthquake behind them. They turned and looked to see a massive army approaching, bearing the flags of the southern dynasties.

Chrom was terrified. "Oh Gods, no! The dynasts! What could have inspired them to-"

Suddenly Say'ri interrupted him and said "Wait, lord Chrom, look-!"

Upon closer inspection, they all realized that the dynasts weren't charging towards the Shepherds, but the Valmese capitol.

"They've turned against Walhart, but why?" Say'ri continued.

"They must have heard about Yen'fay. I'd say that would be enough to change their minds." Chrom responded.

Robin was speechless. His fears of failure had suddenly turned into almost guaranteed victory. With this entire army on his side, Robin couldn't lose, they were going to win… They were going to win!

He turned to face Say'ri, who was just amazed as he was. "Say'ri…" he said "You- Do you know what this means?!"

"We-We're going to win right? Does this mean we're going to win?!" Both of them were smiling, and starting to cry at this realization.

Robin's voice was starting to break as his joy was overtaking him. "Yes! We're going to win! We're finally going to kill Walhart, and this stupid war is finally going to be over!"

They kissed each other, and held each other as tight to each other as they could. They continued doing this, only taking second-long breaks to let out some of the joyous laughter that they couldn't hold back.

Chrom wasn't quite as enthusiastic, and eventually interrupted them by saying "Alright you two, enough of that. Victory hasn't been secured yet, so you shouldn't be acting like it is."

Robin stopped when he heard this and sighed. "You're right, we shouldn't, It's just- We got too excited."

Say'ri chimed in, her mouth still beaming "Apologies, Lord Chrom. We have simply been waiting for so long to be able to say that victory is near and mean it that I- I couldn't help but celebrate when I did."

Chrom laughed, Robin and Say'ri joined him, and eventually Robin said "Yeah, as certain as victory may seem right now, I'll still have some discussing to do with their leaders. Care to join me?"

Say'ri nodded excitedly, while Chrom simply shrugged as if to imply "Eh, why not?"


	13. Chapter 13

**\- I was** ** _not_** **about to write an actual fight scene for this damn chapter, if that's what you were expecting. -**

Walhart was on his knees, after one of achilles heels had been severed, and was hardly keeping himself up with the one arm he had left. As he collapsed, Robin was in front of him, after Say'ri had landed the hit on his ankle from behind. Robin put his hand directly in front of Walhart's head, ready to annihilate it with a Thoron blast at point blank range. Neither of them said anything, Walhart couldn't speak because he was trying too hard not to cough up the blood that was filling one of his lungs. This man's strength was truly unrivaled, to remain conscious even after his normally fatal injuries. Robin wasn't speaking because he couldn't find the words. He directed his eyes to Say'ri, who was standing behind Walhart, looking down on his broken body. She looked up and faced Robin, and exhaled as she gave him a short nod.

Robin looked down at the conqueror, and was about to blow his head off, when he suddenly he pulled back and dispelled the blast. Say'ri, and all of the soldiers in the hall, friend and foe, looked on in awe.

Robin announced "You're a monster Walhart. But as much as you have taken from your victims, you haven't done so to me. As much as I would love to see you dead, killing you will grant me nothing. Or at least, not nearly as much as someone I know, someone very important to me, in fact. Someone who you have taken so much from that I know that she has dreamt of no greater joy than to so much as to witness your death. Someone who you have been trying to kill and torture for years. And just because I love her so much, and because I hate you so much, I'm going to give her the honor of taking your life."

Robin stepped to the side a few feet as Say'ri came around the conqueror to face him directly. Walhart's expression of rage became even more vehement when he saw her. She greeted this with her own face of immeasurable spite, as she started to say "You know, I am suddenly especially glad that you're unable to speak, for if I have to listen to you say so much as a single word I might just go completely insane."

Walhart tried to raise his one arm to point at her, supporting himself with only his thighs, but this failed. He fell forward on his face, and gagged as blood poured out of his mouth. Robin sighed as he stood behind him and leaned his torso back up by using the rope that kept his cloak together as a garrote. Walhart squeezed his fingers under the rope to keep himself from suffocating. Say'ri approached him again, and said "It is evident that you are going to perish soon, so I will make this quick, so that you can hear everything I want to say, and also so that I know that it is truly I who kills you." She put her sword in one of her two sheaths, and produced a completely unused one from the other. "I carried this blade for the entire battle." she said. "I kept it sharp, and clean, so that its blade might be stained with the blood of only one man. With you blood Walhart, for Robin told the truth; I have dreamt of no greater joy than to take your life like this, and now I will finally achieve this. And now, Walhart the Conqueror, you…" She placed one of her feet on his shoulder, and held the blade vertically above him, the tip just millimeters away from his neck. "... Shall die!"

She yelled this as she thrusted the blade downwards into his neck, sending it deep into his ribs, through his heart, and into his abdomen. A perfect execution, guaranteed to kill its victim. Even if she missed the heart, his lungs would be impaled, and his traquea destroyed. There was zero chance of survival. Walhart's life left him immediately.

Say'ri held the blade deep in his neck for a few seconds, while Robin took the rope back from beneath the dead man's chin. When she finally removed the blade and stepped back, Walhart's body went completely limp, and fell forward on its face. Blood was pouring out of the hole in his neck. Say'ri absent-mindedly sheathed the blade as she continued to stare down at him. Robin started to walk around the body towards Say'ri, who looked and turned to face him as he approached. "Robin…" she started, as she placed her hands on his shoulders, and he placed his hands on hers. "...Is it- Is it really over?"

"Yes, Say'ri, it's all over." Robin replied, as they both started to smile and tears welled up in their eyes. "You did it. You killed him. We killed him! We killed him and ended this stupid war once and for all!"

Both of them had tears streaming down their faces now as they were starting to feel the overwhelming joy of their victory. Robin's grip on her shoulders tightened as he happily yelled "We did it, Say'ri! We can finally live out our dream!"

"Oh, Robin!" She cried as she hugged him tighter than she could remember. All of the fury and rage that she had felt just a moment ago quickly transformed into mirth. They embraced each other and laughed ecstatically, until they pulled back to face each other and kissed. They kissed for at least a minute while their allies behind them started celebrating as well. Robin had asked Frederick to bring along a snapshot tome, which he used to take a photo of the two of them; kissing, in the Valmese royal hall, with Walhart's royal throne in the background, and his corpse at their feet. As gruesome as the photo may have been, it would hang in their palace for the rest of their lives.


	14. Chapter 14

**\- Eleven thousand, nine hundred twenty two words. You have read 11,922 words of complete and utter garbage. -**

After witnessing the death of their supposedly immortal leader, the remaining soldiers of servants of the Valmese castle put on a massive feast for the Shepherds in celebration of their victory. Their extensive treasury was going to be dedicated to repairing their armies, so this was only the start of the nation's' expenses. Chrom, Robin, and Say'ri sat at the head of the massive table that had been laid out for them. All of the Shepherds, even with their bandages and injuries, were celebrating joyously after Walhart's defeat.

After the Plegian war, Robin had assumed that victory in war could never be sweet, but the revels before him proved him otherwise.

All of the Shepherds were talking to each other for hours, even Tharja and Noire made an effort to be social, but eventually Chrom asked Say'ri "So, what are you going to be doing now that Walhart's dead?"

"You mean about rebuilding Chon'sin?" She replied.

"Yeah, we've got a whole 'nother battle ahead of us to stop Grima, but you're your own woman, so I can't force you into fighting anything."

Robin had his arm around Say'ri on her shoulder, and was listening in on this conversation.

"Fie, as much as I desire to see my homeland brought back to glory, my part in that will have to wait. I owe far too much to all of you to abandon you now, and even my part in this war will only begin to repay my debts." Chrom sighed, finally accepting that there was no way of convincing her that she owed them nothing. Any expenses they had were going to be payed off by Valm.

"Also," she continued "I would prefer to stay with Robin 'til the very end of our struggles."

Robin chimed in "I want to be able to assist her as much as possible in Chon'sin's restoration."

"So you've discussed this already?" Chrom asked. They both nodded in unison, as Robin snuggled Say'ri a little bit closer.

Chrom laughed as he said "Remember when I said that you two were madly in love? This is what I meant." They all chuckled at this.

Sumia was sitting next to Chrom, and had been eavesdropping on their conversation. She interjected by saying "Say'ri, I'm surprised you even joined us after feinting earlier like that!"

Say'ri blushed at this "Oh fie, did you really see that?"

"Everyone saw it!" Sumia answered, "You were standing right in the middle of the hall! We were already so happy at Walhart's defeat, and that was just the icing on the cake!"

"Ah Gods, that is embarrassing." Say'ri responded. "I apologize for that, the joy was simply… overwhelming."

"I don't blame you one bit," Sumia said. "we're ladies, we've all fainted at least once in our lives. I fainted when Chrom proposed to me, and I'm not ashamed of that!"

"Speaking of which," Chrom spoke up, "Robin, when do you intend to propose to Say'ri?"

Robin wasn't prepared for this question, and started to scratch the back of his neck. Say'ri, however, was interested. Her head perked up in anticipation of his answer.

"Well, um…" Robin started. "I'm not totally sure, but I know that I want to be someplace meaningful. I'm certain that it's going to be one of my fondest memories, so I want it to be really special."

Lissa had also been eavesdropping and suddenly chimed in "Hey, I could help you plan it!"

Robin heard this, and immediately responded "No way! You're not going anywhere near this plan! You'll just turn it into another prank like you did with Say'ri!"

Lissa giggled playfully and said "Maybe…"

Robin rolled his eyes, when Chrom spoke up again "Well, I'd suggest that you do it soon, we've still got to find the last gemstone before all this Grima business starts. Use this brief time of peace to your advantage."

"Heh, maybe I will…" Robin replied.


	15. Chapter 15

**\- Yes, I will make more. Be patient. Don't get you knickers up in a bunch. -**

"Say'ri, I've told you about how I first came to know the Shepherds, right? How Chrom and Lissa found me unconscious…?"

"Lying by the side of the road, yes. You haven't told me the story personally, but you were treated like a modern legend in the Valmese nations during the war. I came to know your story well."

"Ha! That's great! But do you know _where_ they found me?"

"In a field, correct?"

"Do you happen to know which field, exactly?"

"It wouldn't happen to be the one we are walking through at the moment, would it?"

"Ha ha! Terrific guess!"

"I was wondering why you were so excited to show me this place…"

"Yup, right… here."

"This is where they found you?"

"This exact spot, I remember it like it was yesterday."

"It must be very meaningful to you, then."

"Yup. I haven't visited here since before the Valmese war started, but it's still important to me."

"And you have taken this hour out of your day to show it to me?"

"Yeah, I thought that you might want to see it."

"Well, you thought right. I'm very happy to see this... It truly is a pretty spot, isn't it? Out here in the countryside."

"Yeah… Listen, Say'ri, there- there's' another reason I've brought you here."

"Oh?"

"This spot- this field is the most meaningful and important place to me that I can think of."

"I'm sure it it is…"

"Right, and I've brought you, the most important person in my life, to here, the most important place in my life, to ask you what will probably be the most important question in my life…"

"Robin, are you-?"

"Say'ri, will you marry me?"

"Robin, I- Oh Robin, yes! Absolutely! There is nothing that I desire more!"

"May I see your hand then?"

"Y-Yes! Of course!"

"... There."

"Oh Robin, this ring… it's beautiful, and it fits so perfectly! Oh Robin you have made happier than I can even begin to describe! I love you so much!"

"I love you too Say'ri! You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you!"

"I… There is nothing that would make me happier! I would be honored!"

"Then it's settled, once we've rebuilt Chon'sin we'll have a wedding fit for a royal couple!"

"And then we shall be joined under the cherry trees, as one…"

 _To think my greatest joy would be found within this chaos… your heart and mine shall be bound forever…_


	16. Chapter 16

**"Oh hey, this nerd's back. It's about time."**

Robin was completely motionless, and though his eyes were pointed at the wall of the meeting room, he wasn't looking at it. He wasn't looking at anything. His mind was paralyzed, petrified by a malevolent dread that felt as if it had been following him for years.

He knew that Frederick was going to call for him and Chrom at some point, but somehow, for some inconsequential reason he hoped, prayed even, that the last orb would be in the hands of someone who would listen to reason. One of the Valmese Dynasts, or Roseanne, someone - _anyone_ \- other than this.

Chrom leant to be looking directly into Robin's eyes, but he was invisible. He wasn't even there; Robin was completely apprehended, his shock slowly turning into rage and rejection. The muscles in his arms and neck flared, his blood pressure skyrocketed. It wasn't until he noticed a vein starting to bulge in Robin's forehead that Chrom finally spoke.

"Robin, please say something, I-"

He was cut off as Robin suddenly stepped towards the long table that filled most of the room, grabbed a chair, and smashed it sideways into a stone pillar as hard as he could. The chair was by no account a cheap one, and fairly unused at that, but it collided with the pillar with such remarkable force that splinters flew off from it it as if they were made of glass, and made a deep, *thunk* sound as they hit Frederick's armor plates.

Frederick started to move to restrain Robin, but was interrupted as Robin turned back to Chrom, practically screaming with an animosity and hopelessness that Chrom had never seen before.

"What the hell am I supposed to say, Chrom? What do you expect? Am I supposed to just find some way to keep the peace- prevent the inevitable chaos that's about to take over our lives for the next few years? Or maybe you want me to just summon up a Valm-sized army out of nowhere, and have the orb in front of you by the end of the year!"

Chrom clenched his jaw, as if he wanted to say something in response, but was in such a violent crossroads of emotions that he couldn't even begin to find the words.

"We both know what's going to happen." Robin said, breathing heavily between sentences, his shoulders starting to drop.

"Plegia has been building military reinforcements all along our border for the past year, and the goddamn council wouldn't let us do the same because they thought it would be too blatantly aggressive, and would only start another war." Chrom shuttered at this remark because, unbeknownst to Robin, he had voted in favor of that order.

"Well, pretty fuckin' ironic, because here's our war, and it's gonna be a hell of a lot more bloody than it should be because we don't have half the army on that border than we could have!" Robin was holding his head in enraged thought. The three warriors created a spectrum of how well they were hiding their reactions to the news.

Frederick at one end, remaining just as disciplined and astute as ever, trying his damndest to mask his own terror.

Chrom in the middle, barely clinging to his sanity and control; He knew that the peace that he had worked so desperately to maintain, to preserve, since the end of the Valmese war was suddenly collapsing before him.

And finally, Robin, whose voice was starting to strain from his rants, and his eyes pushing tears as he stuttered through his next remark.

"We're gonna have another goddamn war… And a lot of good people are gonna die… And some of them are gonna be our friends…"

His and Chrom's eyes darted about restlessly in apprehension, until Frederick interjected.

"Milord, not all foresight was lost…" Robin looked over towards him. "The Shepherds were never disbanded- we could have a full-scale invasion force armed and ready by tomorrow morning."

Robin looked down, and nodded his head in recognition.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of."


	17. Chapter 17

**\- Tfw you disappear for a year and a quarter and then start trying to make the one fan fiction you wrote super dramatic all of a sudden even though seven chapters ago it was sappy as all hell and had tons of time skips and this moment in the game wasn't event dramatic or relevant at all. -**

The last two wars were so much easier compared to this one; They didn't start the first Plegian war, they were the good guys. Plegia attacked us first. And Say'ri made the separation of good and evil just as clear in the Valmese war. But this new war they were about to enter was different; Ylisse was starting it, they were marching into Plegia first, they were the aggressors. As much as they would try to remind themselves that they were fighting for the holy purpose, and the future, and Naga and all that, it was hard for them to not feel like the violent warlords in this situation.

Although it wasn't _really_ a war yet, it was hard to not look at it that way. Robin tossed and turned the situation over and over again in his mind, desperately trying to find some way that he could bend the truth to make it sound less hopeless than it was, but eventually he gave up. The Shepherds were his friends, and he knew that they were smart enough to know what was going to happen regardless of how he phrased it.

The last time the Shepherds were gathered in this room was to announce one of their birthdays, which happened several times since the end of the Valmese war, so many of them simply assumed that was the occasion for this meeting as well. As they filled the room and started engaging in friendly conversation, Robin stood on the raised platform, anxiously holding his head with one hand. Chrom was next to him, now mostly recovered from his shock, but still completely unaware of what to say to his tactician.

Once all of the Shepherds had made their way to the meeting room, Chrom began to raise his voice to Robin, but was silenced with a hand gesture so as if to say "I know, just give me a second." Robin sighed heavily and approached the podium. He didn't need to ask for their attention, as the entire room silenced itself as he stepped forward. Robin wouldn't let himself look at anyone directly, he didn't want to see their faces, but he still kept his head pointed up.

Robin had spoken to this audience hundreds of times already, for purposes both good and bad, but he couldn't help the unusually wicked shade of stagefright that blew through him now. He swallowed and rolled his shoulders back as he was preparing to speak.

"Good evening everybody, I'm afraid I have some… unfortunate news today." This was the first wave of shock. The Shepherds were confused, but not enough to start whispering to their neighbors; If they weren't interested already, they definitely were now. The room remained silent.

"Frederick has succeeded in his mission, and has found the location of the final orb for the Fire Emblem…" It was at this point that someone could be heard starting to murmur "How is that a bad thing?", but they were immediately cut off as Robin finished his sentence.

"... and it is currently in the hands of the standing emperor of Plegia."

The room was silent. Robin still didn't look any one of them in the eye.

"An Ylissean diplomatic team will be sent there to parley tomorrow morning, but for safety purposes, we feel that they should have a military escort by the entire company of the Shepherds. We-" It was at this point that Robin was cut off by someone, he didn't see who, storming out of the room, followed by what sounded like another chair being smashed against a stone wall down the hallway.

As Robin looked in the direction of the sound, he couldn't stop his eyes from dipping down to his audience for a second. Sumia was on the far left, both of her hands covering an ajar mouth. Libra was towards the back, already praying to himself in a rushed, desperate tone. The muscles in Lon'qu's neck and jaw were visibly tense, and his hand was starting to shake from how hard it was clenched around the sword at his side. 'Horrified' doesn't begin to capture Noire's expression. The enraged person down the hallway let out a scream that could only belong to Sully. And finally, only feet away from the podium, Robin looked down to see Say'ri, who bore a level of such indescribable misery that he hadn't seen since the battle against Yen'fay's army. He felt his heart sink as he saw tears starting to build up in her eyes.

He inhaled sharply and pulled his head back up as he fumbled through the remaining words of his address.

"...We ask that all of you report to the quartermaster sometime this evening, and be situated in the caravan in the main hall, ready to leave, by zero six hundred hours tomorrow morning."

Still, nobody moved. The room remained silent until someone could be heard starting to cry.

"... May Naga help you."


	18. Chapter 18

**\- Seriously tho idk why I'm even bothering to make such a big whip about the start of the second Plegian War it wasn't even important in the game, or at least not nearly as much as what happened after, -**

There was a small table, only a few feet away from two tall, narrow windows. During the day, light would cascade dramatically into the room, illuminating the surface of the table nicely, making reading and writing easy. But at this hour in the evening the room was only lit by an oil lantern on a nightstand. The room wasn't at the top of its building, but it was high up enough that the windows gave a phenomenal view of the rest of the Ylissean capital.

There were two simple, wooden chairs, both on the same side of the table opposite to the windows; They had been closer together before the people using them had stood up, but now they were separate, one of them pointing away from the table at an odd angle, as if its user had left in quite a rush. On the back of this same chair there was a familiar, dark purple cloak; It was late summer, so the cloak was more likely than not being worn simply for appearance or sentiment than function. It was a heavy cloak, enough so to keep its wearer warm, but so much that it would weigh them down. Certain parts of it had been modified and repaired over time, including new shoulder foundation that worked well with steel pauldrons and newer sets of gold highlights around the inner lining and neck.

There were numerous papers scattered on the pearl finish tabletop, most of them lined notebook paper with short, chicken scratch notes jotted on them. There were two tall drinking glasses approximately where the two chairs would have been facing. Earlier in the day they had some ice in them, but now all that remained was a little bit of water at the bottom of each glass. One of them had been left on top of a piece of paper, and the words on the page were starting to distort as the condensation on the glass dripped into the paper. One sheet, very near to the edge of the table facing the two chairs, had a relatively long list of locations, with a large star next to the bullets for "Ylisstol Castle" and "Chon'sin Royal Palace", under both of which were several pros and cons of these locations including "Easier for friends to attend", "Not possible until restoration", and "More unique food". Poking out from underneath some of the papers was one unlined sheet, with the edges of what looked to be a sketch of a dress on it.

Robin was staring at the table, immobilized by his fiancée, taking in every detail of it as he had remembered from earlier that day. Say'ri was hardly hugging him, so much as she was tightly gripping the cloth on the front of his shirt, crying profusely into his chest while his arms were wrapped around her shoulders consoling her. They remained like this for some time in their exorbitant release of mutual emotion, trying to reject the fact that it wouldn't really change anything.

They both hated war, more than anything else. War had taken everything from Say'ri, and forced her to kill her own brother. She was clinging to Robin, desperately hoping that this new one they were entering wouldn't take him from her as well. Robin hated war for his position; Every order he had ever given to the Shepherds he did so with a perpetual angst, knowing full well that these people- his friends- were placing their lives in his hands. That the slightest error would mean losing not just the battle or objective, but one of their lives. And with every passing day, every conversation, every opportunity Robin seized to become closer with the other members of his company, the fear of losing them only grew stronger.

"Why, Robin?... Why did it have to be like this?... Why did it have to be another war?" Say'ri said through tears, her fists clenching harder on the last few words. Robin had been telling people all day that it wasn't really a war yet, that maybe by some unbelievable stroke of fate the Plegians would listen to reason, but even Robin didn't really believe that when he said it. This was a rare occasion when Robin was at a complete loss for words, he simply kept stroking Say'ri's hair, himself only barely pushing back tears as well.

Even though they knew they would spend all of the day after marching, almost no one really slept at all that night.


	19. Chapter 19

**\- Alright, I feel I should properly explain the mentality going forward, because there's at least one or two less layers of irony than there were when I was first working on this thing before the hiatus. First of all, I don't consider myself a bad writer. Nor do I consider a lot of the people on this site to be bad at writing. It's only when people use their otherwise remarkable talents for stuff like** ** _this_** **that I start to have a problem. I only do this because it's necessary (See FAQ). So though it's still going to be pretty sappy, it's hopefully going to be slightly less-so than before because I'm using, more or less, my full ability as a writer. What this also means is that any feedback or writing advice is 100% welcome. Seriously, reading reviews, regardless of how trivial they may be, is a ton of fun. So totally leave one for me. Btw, bit of a shorter chapter today, I didn't really know what else to write for this one that would flow very nicely, and it's also getting to be pretty late,** **so yeah, enjoy what you can. -**

 **EDIT: Lmao just realized I didn't post the entire first half of the chapter last night, so here's that.**

Robin was already taking off with the Fire Emblem, leaving Chrom laying on his back in a confused terror. Every Shepherd in the room was shellshocked, and no one more than Say'ri. She was much faster than Chrom and Robin, and easily could have closed the distance between her and the latter, but she was frozen. The blossoming tragedy before her was all too familiar. The one person that she loved and trusted more than anyone else was suddenly turning on her; It was Yen'fay all over again. The most agonizing tragedy she had ever experienced was suddenly resurrecting itself in a more terrifying fashion than she, let alone anyone, could have ever imagined. She simply hovered her trembling hand over the handle of her blade, unable to bring herself to unsheath it for a reason so traitorous and vile. Had Robin not broken out of his trance sooner, she would have had a complete mental breakdown.

But it wasn't soon enough; Validar had the Fire Emblem, and had revealed a secret weapon in Robin that would change the entire dynamic with which the Shepherds would advance in their new, second Plegian war. Even during the last leg of their escape from the Castle, Robin was completely spaced out, unaware of where he was going, only moving with the crowds that Chrom was ordering around. Say'ri was clinging to his arm, partly to guide him in the escape, but mostly just to hold on to what she thought she lost.

...

"Unforgivable… What I did is just… Unforgivable..."

Robin hadn't properly recovered from the earlier events, and knew he wouldn't until he had completely undone the damage he caused. As much as the other Shepherds would try to convince him that it wasn't him who did it, and that whatever sorcery did cause this catastrophe was completely to blame on Validar, and that they would find a way to counter it, Robin was haunted by the knowledge that he was the one who perpetuated this war for so much longer than it needed to be.

The only person who could even begin to get through to him was Say'ri, but this was hardly the first thing on her mind. In truth, neither of them had recovered yet. A sinister chill still clung to Say'ri's emotions from the moment she thought she had lost him for good. She was latched onto him like a very pretty and affectionate leech for the entire evening. Unfortunately, Robin hadn't even noticed her until several hours after the battle.

She was still clinging on to him when he finally said, "Say'ri, please, you don't understand what this could mean for the Shepherds."

Silence.

"Say'ri, I mean it, what if he does this again? How can I be trusted after this?"

"...Never scare me like that again."

Robin sighed, "Say'ri, you don't underst-"

"No! I do understand, I just-" Say'ri was on the brink of tears, "Please! I just- I love you too much to lose you like I lost Yen'fay! Please promise me!"

Only now was Robin starting to properly consider her; He was so preoccupied with what this development meant for himself and the Shepherds that he had barely considered Say'ri. This was Robin's plight; In dire circumstances like this, he would often consider his position before he would think about his family, where Say'ri was the exact opposite. It was the one thing Say'ri could find in him that she at all resented.

But now, as he looked into her watery, dismayed eyes, he finally rearranged his priorities.

"...I love you too. I love you more than anything else in the world, and nothing will ever change that."

They hugged, and kissed once, but as he ran his hand through Say'ri's hair, Robin finished, "But I won't make any promises that I can't keep. I can't promise that I won't be- possessed like that again."

By this point Say'ri was properly weeping, and barely squeezing her words through a broken voice as she leaned her head forwards into Robin's chest.

"Just... Just don't leave me all alone… At least promise me that…"

Robin was starting to cry as well.

"Alright, I promise."


	20. Chapter 20

**\- Oh hey, look whomst finally arrived, that's pretty good. I felt a need to wait for her to only show up now, seeing that the second Plegian war would have a pretty heavy toll on Robin and Say'ri.**

 **P.S.: We reached 10,000 views, so yeah, thanks!**

 **P.P.S.: Despite that many views, I still don't have any new reviews, so get on that!**

 **P.P.P.S.: Go watch the reboot of Samurai Jack.**

 **P.P.P.P.S.: But seriously leave a review and thanks for that many views.**

 **P.P.P.P.P.S.: I'm never gonna change my bio or any of the old author's notes, I really like those as they are. -**

"Hey, Robin, look over there… Is that-?"

"By Gods, that's a child! What is she doing here? This is practically a war zone!"

Though the child was dressed as a myrmidon and armed, Robin didn't have to look at her for long to realize that she didn't stand a chance against all the Risen infesting these ruins. Chrom, Sumia, Frederick, and Cordelia were busy holding their main offensive line, and hardly needed Lissa's support to do so, allowing Robin to have her break off to go help the child. Most of the hostiles in the child's general area were too distracted by the advancing Shepherds to worry about her, so it would be a fairly easy rescue.

When Lissa did reach her, the Child was visibly lost and confused.

"Hey, are you alright? You're not hurt or anything?"

She was fairly short, not much taller than Lissa, with jet black hair and a strangely familiar face. She was wearing a backpack over her combat outfit, with the sleeves of an old, purple coat and the top of massive tome sticking out of the main pocket.

"No, I'm fine… Who are you?" she asked in a dazed tone.

"I'm Lissa, I'm from a group called the Shepherds..."

Lissa pointed to the group a way's away, still in the middle of battle with metal clanging and screams audible from where she stood.

"...Don't mind the noise. Anyways, who are you? Are you lost?"

"Yes, well I- wait, no- Did you say you're from the Shepherds?"

"Yep!" The Child's face lit up with hope and surprise.

"Wait, then you might know my- Do you know someone named 'Robin'?"

"Yeah, he's our tactician."

The Child gasped with delight, and said "Okay, I need to find him. Can you take me to him?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but I-" Lissa was interrupted by the earsplitting scream of a risen having its lung ripped open.

"...On second thought, the fighting is getting pretty nasty over there. Can you wait until they finish all that up?"

"Yeah, sure thing!"

…

It wasn't much longer until the Shepherds had gotten what they came for, and Chrom called for Lissa to walk back over to the main group, bringing the child with her. As they got closer, they recognized Robin's cloak from a distance.

Lissa called out "Hey Robin!" He turned around to face her, "This kid wants to talk to you!"

Now the child was yelling to him, "Hey! It's me, Morgan!"

Chrom was standing next to him during this exchange, and saw Robin's puzzled expression after hearing this. He asked Robin, "Who's Morgan?" to which Robin simply replied with a shrug, before calling back to Lissa and the child "Who?!"

Morgan pouted, simply assuming that he couldn't hear in his older age, so she gave up on calling to him from afar and started jogging over to him.

Within a few seconds, she was standing right in front of him, panting lightly from the jog and simply exclaimed, "Hey Dad! What's going on? Where were you?"

For a couple seconds after hearing this Robin's face was reactionless, before he finally responded "I- Wait, did you say 'Dad'?"

"Well, yeah. Are you feeling alright, Dad? You look a little diff-"

"Like, 'Dad' as in 'Father'?"

"Well yeah, of course, I-"

Robin interrupted her by squeezing her lower body, picking her up into a tremendous hug. He didn't care about a single word she said other than "Dad", and was already starting to cry tears of joy.

Morgan called out, "Whoa! Hey, Dad! What are you doing?!" But she was ignored.

Say'ri was inspecting her sword from the prior battle a few yards away from them, and looked up when she heard Robin starting to laugh uncontrollably.

Suddenly he called out, "Oh my Gods! Say'ri! Say'ri, get over here! We have a daughter!"

Say'ri didn't even respond; She dropped her sword on the ground and immediately started sprinting towards them.

Morgan started to say, "Wait, father, what's going o-", but was again cut off by Say'ri embracing her from behind. Now Morgan couldn't possibly get a word in; She was sandwiched in between Say'ri and Robin who were both hugging her and laughing with delight. It had become something of a running joke in the Shepherds how completely obsessed with each other Robin and Say'ri were, so many of them looked on this scene and started to laugh as well. Things like his had happened before, with a child from the future suddenly appearing, but none were quite this joyful and spectacular. Most of them quickly became rather sad, as the parents would have to hear the story of how they were brutally murdered and left their children to fend for themselves in the future, but Robin and Say'ri were having none of that.

It wouldn't be until later on that Morgan would get the chance to explain that she had no idea where she was, what time she was in, and who her mother was, but that didn't dull their spirits at all. Even if she didn't remember who Say'ri was, Say'ri knew she was her mother, that she was family, and that Say'ri would love her unconditionally for the rest of her life.

It was a curious situation for the couple, because only several days prior they were quite depressed following the events in Plegia castle. But now, they couldn't bring themselves to be upset even if they tried. This was only supported by Morgan's perpetually optimistic outlook on life, which Robin would go on to say was the biggest thing keeping him going during the war.


	21. Chapter 21

**\- Did you know that 7.54 percent of the more than 80,000 letters in this story are the letter "a"? Well now you do. Also, I got a couple of reviews on the last chapter, so thanks for that! Keep it up! -**

"So, one more time for me… You and Dad are both soldiers?"

Say'ri chuckled lightly from across the interior of the carriage, as if she had explained this numerous times already, but was completely happy to explain it again. "Yes, and we're currently at war with Plegia"

"...And Dad is also the Tactician?"

"Yes."

"...And also the leader of this group?!"

Say'ri laughed again, "No, Chrom is technically the leader, but Robin does a lot of leadership work as well."

"And then you're also a princess…"

"Yes. Chon'sin is only in the beginning stages of repair, but by lineage, I am royalty of it."

Morgan sat in silence, her hands connected in front of her, her eyes darting about in apprehension. Say'ri lowered her eyebrows in concern, and leaned forwards in her seat to look Morgan in the eye.

"Morgan? Is everything alright?"

Morgan held her head and closed her eyes, "Mother, I'm so sorry! I don't know why I can't seem to remember any of this, it's just-!"

Say'ri silenced her with a shush, kneeled in front of her, and held her head, "Come now, Morgan, we've already been over this, haven't we? Robi- Your father and I both love you very much, no matter what you have remembered or forgotten about either of us, alright?" Say'ri was only starting to fit into the role of a parent, and she and Robin hadn't discussed it at all prior. It was something that both of them wanted to delay at least until after their plight with Grima was finished. But now that she had Morgan with her, Say'ri was the happiest she had been in a long time, and the prospect of having a child became more and more promising by the day.

Morgan sniffled a bit and smiled, "Alright. Thanks Mom."

Say'ri could tell that she was still troubled by it, and said "Come now, Morgan, take this opportunity to create an entirely new set of happier memories with us!" In truth, Say'ri was afraid for Morgan's past. She had heard the tales from the other children, and prayed not only that Morgan didn't suffer a similarly terrible fate, but even if she did, that she would never be forced to recall it. "If you truly wish to make me upset, then you should simply keep up this grim attitude of yours!"

They both laughed at this. Morgan wouldn't stop being troubled by her amnesia for some time, but it was hard for her to be upset when both of her parents were always so joyful around her.

"Oh, hey! I just remembered!" Morgan stood up walked across the room. She continued speaking as she dug through her belongings.

"Remember when the caravan stopped at that town this morning for horse feed?"

Say'ri was curious, "Yes…"

"Well, check _this_ out!" Suddenly Morgan produced a short, straight sword from her knapsack, and excitedly handed it to her mother.

As Say'ri inspected it and turned it over in her hands, she said "Morgan… this blade is awful… You couldn't cut paper with this, and its construction is- Why did you buy this?"

Morgan was still smiling, as she took the sword back from Say'ri. "Because of this!" Morgan flicked a small toggle switch in the cheap, metal hilt, and pushed the end of the blade directly into her hand. For a moment Say'ri was shocked, until the tip collapsed into the section behind it, then again into the section behind that, until the entire length of the blade had telescoped down to be less than half a foot long.

"See?! Isn't that so cool?!"

Say'ri laughed and shook her head. It was a completely silly gesture, and would have minimal use in their army, but was amusing regardless.

"Imagine the jokes and stuff you could do with this! I know it's just a toy, but, oh man! The potential!"

Say'ri sighed happily and responded "You are a crazy child, Morgan."

Morgan giggled, and Say'ri laughed again, then asked, "You know, speaking of you and swords, have you put any more consideration into our question from earlier?"

Suddenly, Morgan was much less happy, and let out a sigh. Say'ri didn't want to kill the positive mood of the conversation, but this was too important an issue to delay.

"Right, that. I just- Am I really even cut out to be a soldier? I mean, I'm just a kid, right? Wouldn't I just hold all of you down?"

"Of course not, nothing you could do would ever be a liability to us."

"Aw geez, Mom…"

Say'ri chuckled, "If nothing else, it would be more useful than you just being around camp all day. And even if you are, you should at least know how to use a sword properly. Would you prefer if I taught you just that?"

"Wouldn't you be scared, though?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, if I became a soldier and all, wouldn't you and Dad be super scared for me?"

Say'ri swallowed in thought, and replied "Yes, of course we would be scared for you, I can't think of anything I hate more than the idea of you getting hurt. But it's entirely your choice. You're with the Shepherds now, and the only alternative to that is sending you back to Yllistol to wait until the war rolls over." Say'ri didn't have to say that none of them liked that idea.

"So it's your choice; Do you simply want to travel with us, or would you like to fight alongside us as well?"

Morgan stood in silence for a while considering the question, weighing her options. Morgan was genuinely on the fence about it, but Say'ri knew what she wanted her to say. Ironically, some of the greatest memories she shared with Robin were either made during combat, or were an immediate result of it. Her rescue, Walhart's defeat, and now finding Morgan in the ruins of time among many, many others. She thought that, maybe if Morgan was along with them, she could form some happy memories like those too. As for Morgan getting hurt, however, she hardly had to worry. The only person who loved Morgan as much as she did, possibly more, was Robin, and he would never put her in a fight that he didn't know she could win.

Morgan flicked the novelty sword in her hands in such a way that the blade extended again, before sighing, and finally saying, "Alright. I think I would like to fight alongside you."

Say'ri was happy, but didn't want to seem eager. "Are you sure, Morgan?"

Morgan thought for a moment, and said "Yeah. I'm sure."

Say'ri smiled. Morgan smiled back.

"Alright then, whenever the caravan stops for the night we'll find your father and let him know, and your training will probably start tomorrow, alright?"

Morgan nodded her head a few times in silence.

"Alright. Sounds good."


	22. Chapter 22

**\- Idk, this chapter isn't so important to the plot as much as it is a little fluffy thing that I've been meaning to wedge in here somewhere. Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

Robin collapsed on his knees, then fell the rest of the way on his side. He was practically limp, barely pulling himself around with what little strength and mobility he had. Say'ri was several yards away, and from that distance it looked like the bolt may have missed his lung, that maybe there was some hope that he could survive it. She dropped her weapon and ran towards him immediately, and fell to her knees and put her arms under his torso, trying to hold him up to be looking towards her. She looked down at the arrow in his upper chest as her eyes were starting to fill with tears, and sure enough, it went right through his ribs. Her heart shattered as she realized that he wouldn't stay alive for another full minute in this condition.

"No, Robin, this cannot be happening… Gods no, this cannot be happening…" She was crying heavily as she held his hardly breathing body in her arms. "Please, don't die. You can't die. Not now…"

She lost her ability to speak as she started to choke on her words. Suddenly Robin started to raise his arm, and just barely managed to pull it up to the side of Say'ri's face. He was in agonizing pain, and could barely speak or breath as his left lung continued to fill with blood.

He started to whisper "I love you" to Say'ri in a strained voice, but it cut out halfway through. Say'ri was holding his hand on her face when she felt it go completely limp; He was gone.

For a brief moment Say'ri was speechless, until she started to scream in enraged misery.

"Robin? Robin?! No! No this can't possibly be happening! Not now! Not like this…"

Her voice trailed off as she fell back into a sob. She kept her head bowed over the corpse in her arms until she heard a very familiar noise coming from her right. She pulled her head up in just enough time to see the bolt heading straight for her skull, and then everything was very wet.

…

Robin was sleeping soundly, Say'ri curled under his arm, until he was jostled awake by her moving around and mumbling in her sleep. It wasn't uncommon for them, let alone anyone in the Shepherds, to have nightmares like this, but Robin could tell that this one was worse than usual. He would never get back to sleep if he didn't snap her out of it first, so he put one hand on his shoulder and shook her around a bit.

"Say'ri, darling, you're having a bad dream. Wake up." This didn't work. In fact, it only seemed to make it worse. She started rolling back forth more vigorously, and speaking louder.

Now Robin had rolled around to be completely on his side, and was shaking her entire torso.

"Say'ri! You gotta wake up! Can you even hear me?!"

Now Say'ri turned over, and sat up in bed. Now Robin realized that her condition was more like sleepwalking than anything. He sat up and held onto her, gently slapping her face to try and shock her awake. By now, bits and pieces of her anxious mumbling were starting to be intelligible, but only single words like "Robin", "No", and "Happening", which made it clear to Robin exactly what was going on inside her head.

"Say'ri! I'm right here! I'm fine, just wa-" he was cut off by Say'ri suddenly putting her hands on his shoulders. He started to push her back, but her grip tightened. Robin made an impatient face, and finally gave up.

There was a tall glass of water on his nightstand that was still about half full. He leaned back to grab the glass, and held it in one hand.

"Say'ri, I'm giving you one more chance to wake up."

Now her voice was getting rather loud, "No… Robin, you can't d-!"

She was going to wake up the people in the tents next to them if she didn't stop soon, so Robin had to cut her off by splashing the water all over her face.

Say'ri's eyes shot open, and for a few moments she was completely dazed. Her dream felt so real that she could hardly tell it from real life. She finally caught her focus again when she looked at Robin.

"Wha- R-Robin?"

Robin wasn't exactly sure what to say, so he simply asked "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Say'ri was in awe, and called out "Oh Gods, Robin!" She lunged forward, wrapped both arms around his torso, and buried her face in his shoulder. Water was still running down her hair and face, which helped mask some of the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Robin hugged her back and stroked her hair, and said, "Shh.. It was only a dream, darling. You're okay. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Say'ri was still in a state and sobbing into his shoulder, but after a few minutes, she brought herself back together enough to pull her head back up and start speaking again.

"Ah, Gods… I'm sorry, I just- It felt so real, It still feels like you were just-" Her voice cut off as it started to crack up again.

She was wiping some tears out of her eyes when Robin said "Alright honey, it's okay, cry as much as you need to. It happens to the best of us, and it's scary when it does."

He placed one hand on the side her face, and nudged it a little to be looking at him when he finished, "But I'm right here now. You've got nothing to worry about."

She sniffed a little, and said "Thank you, Robin."

He smiled, and asked "You think you'll be able to get back to sleep?"

She nodded quietly, and they both lay back down. Say'ri snuggled close under Robin's arm, and soon enough, they were sleeping soundly again.


	23. Chapter 23

**\- I realize that this technically should have happened way earlier in the plot, but hey, we're going with my plot this time** **around** **. Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

"You are a threat, Robin! And I will not stand idly by when I am so certain that you will kill my father!"

Robin wasn't afraid of Lucina, but that didn't mean he didn't take her seriously. They were friends, they knew each other very well at this point, well enough for Robin to realize that it would take far more than friendship to stop her from fulfilling her purpose. As far as anyone knew, it may be impossible.

He swallowed in thought, clenching the muscles in his jaw, and responded, "What are you going to do then? Are you going to kill me?"

Lucina's grip on her blade tightened. Regardless of the outcome of this encounter, she knew she would be scorned by the rest of the Shepherds. This bit at her mind, which disrupted her focus, but she had to keep reminding herself that this was her destiny; She didn't go back in time to make friends, least of all with her father's murderer, and she had to succeed in her mission no matter the cost.

"I cannot let you live. You are clearly linked to Grima in some way that is beyond your control, and I am certain that will be all of mankind's downfall."

Robin inhaled anxiously as she said this, thoroughly considering the words in his mind.

"I don't expect you to simply let yourself be killed, but I will offer you an ultimatum. You will either allow me to take your life, die trying to defend it, or I will die trying to take it from you, but regardless of your decision, nothing will distract me from my purpose!"

It was hard for either of them to say who the greater fighter was, but regardless, Lucina was ready to fight to the death, whether that be her's or Robin's.

Robin was looking at the ground and biting his lip apprehensively. Lucina was impatient, however. She knew that someone would see them soon and try to stop her.

She called out, "Make up your mind, Robin!" It was hard for her to be so harsh and commanding to him. All this time he was her ally and commanding officer, and behind her vicious facade she was hardly keeping herself together. Robin may not have been afraid of her, but she was afraid of fighting Robin. If she had thought there was an alternative to killing him, she would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Robin's face didn't seem sad, but his eyes looked as if they were only barely pushing back tears. Then, he did something that Lucina never expected; He nodded. He nodded and inhaled, before saying words that put Lucina in an even more violent crossroads of emotions than she already was.

"You're right."

Lucina was so puzzled that she couldn't stop herself from saying, "...What?"

Robin sighed, and said "You're right. It's obvious, isn't it? All this time I've been looking less like an ally and more like some kind of, I don't know… Secret weapon of the Plegians, haven't I?"

Robin chuckled, and continued "Would you believe me if I told you that I've actually had one recurring nightmare where I stab Chrom square in the chest? Say'ri always taunts me for that one because I always wake her up when it happens…"

Lucina gasped a little at this information before Robin continued speaking.

"I… I don't think I'd ever be able to explain your argument to her… Maybe it's best that you kill me now before I try since she'll inevitably talk me out of it. And if she doesn't, Morgan definitely will. You may not realize this yet, but parents are total suckers for their kids.

"But right now, it just seems so obvious. Here I am, supposedly the tactical mind that everybody loves and sings praises for, but I could hardly even put one and one together."

Robin moved his eyes up to be looking at Lucina, "Your real problem, though, is going to be explaining this to your father." Lucina inhaled sharply at this, starting to choke a little on her breath.

"He may love you, but both of us know him well enough to realize that, killing his best friend? In the middle of a war? Even if I wasn't practically his brother, you could still be hung for blatant acts of treason."

Lucina jumped, and gasped as she asked "What?"

Robin shrugged, and replied "I am the lead tactician, after all. Hell, if the Ylissean government doesn't put you on trial, Chon'sin will."

Throughout this entire talk, Lucina's will to fight was fading. The more and more Robin talked about her father, and the other Shepherds, and his family, and all of the consequences that will inevitably come to her if she follows through with her initial plan, the more she felt she was completely in the wrong. Here she was, finally with her father, but if she did this he'd probably never want to speak to her again. Yes, she wanted to save her future, but be remembered by all of Ylisse as a traitor and a criminal? Her grip on Falchion was loosening, and she couldn't bring herself to speak through the chaos in her mind.

"But hey, that's your battle to fight, and you said it yourself: nothing will distract you from your destiny. So here it is, destiny is standing right in front of you, completely unarmed."

Lucina snapped her head up, "Wait, no, I- I don't think I…" She trailed back off into her thoughts.

"Come on, Lucina. We both know this needs to happen. It's for the fate of the world, and that's what you're here for, right?" Robin started walking closer to her.

"I, yes, but I-I don't-"

Robin was right in front of her, and cut her off by placing one hand on her shoulder, and the other around the hand holding Falchion, and moved the blade to be pointing directly at his stomach. Lucina inhaled sharply, and her entire body tensed up in shock as Robin was looking directly at her from only inches away.

"Come on, Lucina, just do it. Isn't this what you want?"

"No, I-I don't want this…"

"You have to! It's your destiny, just do it already!"

"No!' She pushed Robin off of her, held Falchion on her opposite side, and started yelling back,

"I don't want to be hated by my Father! I- I don't want to be a criminal! I'm not... a traitor…"

She closed her eyes as they started to fill with tears. Robin looked at her, somewhat sympathetic, somewhat disappointed, and said.

"Alright, I understand. That's a lot to handle. But that doesn't change what's already been said."

Lucina's eyes opened, and shot back up to be looking at Robin.

"I'm still a threat, and I can't be left alive, or Grima will take over the world."

"Wait, no-"

"And if you won't stop me," he produced a bright yellow tome from inside of his cloak and charged a large pike of electricity in his other hand, "I will… Tell them my last words were 'I love you Say'ri'."

"Robin, wait!"

She was too late; Robin had already buried the bolt in his stomach. Falchion fell out Lucina's hand and hit the dirt, followed by Lucina collapsing on her knees, and then by Robin falling limp on his stomach. Both of her hands were covering her mouth in terror. What had she done? How could she possibly explain this to the others? To her father?

She sat in silence for a few moments as her crying kicked up again, until she heard someone running towards her from her left. She looked over to see Say'ri about fifty yards away just as she screamed in a horrified tone "Robin?!". Chrom, Morgan, and Frederick were all right behind Say'ri, barely keeping up with her. Lucina's heart sank as she realized what was about to happen.

She slowly started to pick herself up, and was on her feet just as Say'ri fell to her knees at Robin's side. She rolled his body over onto her legs to be facing her, and started screaming in misery.

"Robin?! Oh Gods, Robin! No! Why?! How could this happen?!"

Morgan joined her in this an instant later, and Chrom and Frederick caught up to them shortly after. Chrom was still on his feet, but just barely. Frederick remained as controlled as ever, but in truth was just as terrified of these events as anyone, and Lucina wa still off to the side, crying silently in fear and regret.

Chrom was panting between speech, and was barely pushing back tears when he turned to be facing Lucina.

"Lucina, what… What happened? What did you do?"

"I- I told him that he was going to kill you, and I-"

"You what?!"

"No! I- I didn't kill him! He killed himself, but he said it was necessary! For the future!"

"Oh Gods y- you told my best friend to kill himself, didn't you?"

"No! It wasn't-"

"You and your god damned future! It's always about that, isn't it?! Well here you go! You saved the future! Are you happy now?! Are you proud of the fucking misery you've made of the present?!" Chrom said through heavy tears.

Lucina buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Chrom turned back to face Robin, and said abruptly to Lucina over his shoulder,

"Get out."

Lucina picked her head up, "W-What?"

Now Chrom turned back around to be looking at her, "I said get out!"

"Father?!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Wha- Father, I-"

"You're not really my daughter! I don't even know you! No daughter of mine would ever do this and go away thinking it was for some kind of greater good!"

"Please, no! I-"

"Just leave! I don't ever want to see you again!"

Chrom turned around and moved towards Robin. Lucina was paralyzed with horror. She was about to fall back into tears, when she spoke up again.

"He wanted you all to know…" They all turned their heads to be looking at her, "his last words were 'I love you Say'ri'."

They were silent for a moment, considering this statement, when Say'ri said quietly, "I love you too, Robin." then pulled a sword from the sheath at her side, and impaled herself in the lower chest.

Chrom and Lucina both fell to their knees and held their heads in horror. Morgan fainted. Say'ri was limp before her head hit the ground. Frederick was the only one showing any emotion other than terrified disbelief, and he was completely enraged.

Lucina was on her knees again, pressing her fingers against her temples to try and ease the overwhelming emotion when Frederick approached her, and pointed the head of his lance at her skull. She jumped back a little and looked up to face him.

"Lucina! You have committed unspeakable acts against the Shepherds and the Halidom of Ylisse, so I will offer you this ultimatum: You will leave here by the time I am finished counting to three, and you will never show your face around the Shepherds, or anywhere in the Halidom, ever again, or by the power invested in my position I will execute you here and now! One!"

Lucina was motionless. She couldn't begin to properly comprehend her situation.

"Two!"

What had she done? What was she going to do? Where in the world could she go where she could live with the dread?

"Three!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, ready to receive her judgement. It wasn't what she deserved, but it was what she wanted. Everything she loved was gone. Even her purpose was lost now. Death was a preferable option to a life of misery.

But it didn't come. She slowly opened her eyes to see Frederick still standing over her in the same position.

He looked over his shoulder at the others and asked "... Um, Sir Robin?"

Lucina was dumbfounded, when suddenly Robin coughed once, then started chuckling as he rolled on his side, and pushed himself off the ground. He leaned down and asked Say'ri if she was alright as she revealed that her sword was now less than half a foot long, and she simply nodded her head in response. Morgan woke up as Robin said to Frederick "Wow, Frederick! Why didn't you ever tell me you were such a good actor?"

Frederick simply shrugged in response.

"And Chrom! Since when could you push fake tears like that?!"

"I dunno, first time for everything, and I guess my first time was alright!"

They all laughed a little. As if Lucina wasn't confused before, now she was completely perplexed. She was still laying on her back when Robin approached her and extended a hand.

Her expression was terrified. He smiled and said "Lucina, did you know that there's a version of a Thoron pike that, instead of going straight through its target, instead uses their skin as a conductor and comes right out their back? It still hurts like all hell, but it won't kill 'em."

Lucina reached up and grabbed his arm, and as he pulled her back up onto her feet, she wrapped both of her arms around him and started crying again.

He may have planned the whole thing out, but he didn't expect quite an emotional response as this. If nothing else he expected her to be mad for pulling what was, at its heart, a very cruel joke.

"Alright, there there, everything's okay, but I think that's enough of the hugging. Say'ri's gonna start to get mad at me soon."

The others all laughed at this, and Lucina finally pulled away. Robin knew she really wanted to speak to Chrom, but before letting her go, he looked at her and asked, "You gonna be alright?", to which she nodded, sniffed, and wiped some tears out of her eye.

She ran over to Chrom, and they both hugged each other. They were all silent for some time, until Robin looked at the others and said "C'mon, let's leave them alone for a bit."

As they were walking away, Morgan and Say'ri held on to each of Robin's arms, and Say'ri asked him "We won't ever have to do that again, right?"

Robin chuckled and said "No, I think we got our message across."


	24. Chapter 24

**\- And so we reach the dilemma that inevitably pops in every fe:a fanfiction: Will Robin kys or nah? Tbh idk at this point. I might just pull the meme where you do two different versions of the same chapter that end in different ways. If I knew how to run a poll I would, but hey, the number of views I've been getting has tanked recently, so it's not like many people would vote anyways.**

 **Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

The trip from Plegia to Mount Prism was many miles long, but the Shepherds would have to cross the distance in record time. They had all just learned some bitter truths that many of them still didn't fully understand, but Robin did. He understood the nightmarish events that had just played out before him all too well, and could barely even bring himself to stay on his horse at the head of the caravan. He knew he would have to continue leading the force, but he didn't know if any of them could possibly trust him after this.

He was Grima.

The very evil they had all been trying to exterminate for the past year was living among them the whole time. Lucina still didn't think she should have killed Robin when she had the chance several days prior, but she was certainly hypothesizing where they would be if she had.

But both Robin and Lucina learned something else in this tragedy, that both of them were considering very heavily; if Robin killed Grima, then they'd both be gone. Forever.

This prospect held minimal appeal to anyone else, though. Chrom hardly recognized it all, Morgan and Say'ri ignored it entirely. Of course Chrom was going to seal Grima away, it'd be crazy to think otherwise, and most of the Shepherds agreed with them. More than anything, they were concerned with whether or not Chrom would successfully receive Naga's blessing. Robin couldn't care less. Of course she would, Chrom was as great an Exalt as there had ever been, and it would be stupid not to when the Fell Dragon was already awake. All Robin cared about was his own choice.

…

"...You- You do not really mean what you are saying, right?"

"I don't know Say'ri, I'm trying to think about the greater good here."

She stared at him, unconvinced.

"You've heard the stories from these kids just as much as I have, and who's to say there won't be another exalt like Chrom a thousand years from now? How can we know that-"

Say'ri cut him off by slapping him square across the face. Hard. Robin held his face and turned back to be looking at hers.

"How can say these things?! After everything you and I have been through, and for everything still left unfinished?!"

Robin was listening to her, but his expression was still shocked from the slap, as if it were more absurd than what he was proposing. Neither of them had really ever hit each other like that outside of the training room, and after a few moments of silence, Say'ri realized this as well.

She relaxed her muscles, and said "I'm sorry about the slap, but you can't truly be serious about this, right?"

Silence.

"...After all the fear, and all the promises. You promised! Remember? You swore that you would never leave me alone, and yet, here you are saying that you would!"

Her eyes were starting to water, but Robin still said nothing.

"We have a daughter, Robin! Would you abandon her? We both know how much she looks up to you. And all the Shepherds. All of us love you, and you would leave us for some 'Greater good'?"

Finally, after lots of silent thought, Robin spoke up,

"What are the Shepherds, fifty people? We're talking about all of humankind here. It just- it doesn't balance out."

"You are a hero, Robin! All of Ylisse and Chon'sin will be singing your praises for centuries!"

"Well, they'll be silenced pretty quickly as soon as Grima comes back again."

Now Say'ri was silent. Her tears were picking up more as she sat in disbelief of her fiancé in front of her. Her voice started to crack when she said,

"I- I cannot believe what I am hearing… How could you…?"

Robin's head perked up at this, and when he saw her starting to look at the engagement on her finger, he realized he had crossed the line.

"Wait, Say'ri, I- I don't want to do this."

She glared at him, unconvinced and still crying. He continued,

"I would never willingly leave you, or Morgan, or any of the other Shepherds. You, and Chrom, and everybody here are my family. They're all I have, and everything I can ever remember doing has been for them, and especially for you and Morgan. I love both of you more than words can begin to describe," his eyes were starting to tear up as well.

"But this is about the fate of the world, a future where the wants of one tactician, regardless of how much he loved his wife, will mean nothing to a group of warriors trying to prevent humanity's extinction. It's not about what I want, it's about the greater good."

Say'ri knew he was speaking sincerely, and responded "But it has never been about what you want!"

Robin reared his head in confusion.

"Everything you've ever done has been for me, or Morgan, or the Shepherds, or Ylisse, or something other than yourself! You've saved my life more times than I can begin to count, on and off the field, and anyone here could say the same! I already owe more to you than I could possibly repay to you in one lifetime! So for God's sake Robin, even if you will think about yourself only once in your entire lifetime, please! Do it now!"

Robin was speechless. Say'ri's face fell forward into her hands as she continued crying. Robin hugged her, and they stayed like that for a long time. In truth, Say'ri did see the merits of Robin's argument, and for all the debts she had mentioned, she knew she was in no position to order Robin around, let alone slap him across the face. But no one would get through to him the way she could, just as no one wanted him to sacrifice himself.

Robin, however, remained completely indecisive.


	25. Chapter 25

**-For real tho, my views have really tanked lately and idk why. I always ask y'all to** **leave** **reviews, so if it's something to do with the way I write, then please, I welcome all criticism.**

 **Not a super long or in-depth chapter this time around, but I felt a need to throw this moment in here before the finale since it's a pretty significant thing for Say'ri. Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy.**

"Say'ri, I am not your brother, and nor are you my sister. But let me atone for the mistakes of my own past by dedicating my blade to you."

He said this in an abrupt, well constructed manner, as if he had been practicing those very words in his mind since long before this encounter. Say'ri, however, was not nearly convinced.

"How can you say these things?! What good is it if you join our company without seeing me as your sister? Not a day has passed since that battle that I have no thought of you… Of hoping to see you, to talk to you only once again in my life…"

Yen'fay was silent. Robin remained next to Say'ri, not sure if he had any place in this conversation.

"And when I found you here, I thought that by some work of the Gods I would finally have that chance, but now you are just dangling it in front of my face, so close yet so far distant."

Yen'fay began to respond, "Say'ri, you cannot expect me to simply-"

"Yes I can!" She interrupted, "For if you truly wish to join our force then I will call you nothing other than my brother."

Yen'fay considered the statement, and said quietly,

"...or else?"

Say'ri swallowed and responded,

"Or else you will spend the rest of your miserable life wandering this world all alone, and I will walk away from here, and forgot all about the crazed man I met in my brother's grave who was

pretending to be someone I loved."

Yen'fay's face showed minimal emotion, but both Robin and Say'ri could tell he was hurt by this statement. And Yen'fay could tell just as easily that Say'ri meant all of what she was saying. They loved each other, both of them valued family more than anything, they just happened to express their devotion in extremely conflicting fashions.

There was only a brief pause after Say'ri had finished announcing her ultimatum that she followed up by saying, "I should not have to tell you that neither of us want that to happen."

There was a long silence as Yen'fay stood in contemplation, inspecting the Say'ri of this world. Going into this encounter he expected her to completely different, molded into an entirely unique individual from the sister he knew by the experiences and burdens of this world. When, in truth, she was almost exactly the same, no different from the sister he had grown up with.

Suddenly, his eyes squinted as they focused on something on her.

"What is that?"

"Don't change the subject."

"No, this matters, what is that?" He raised his arm and pointed at her hand. She raised her arm to inspect it, and immediately realized what he was referring to: her engagement ring. As she looked back her brother, they stood in silence, trading various facial expressions as if they were having a complete conversation without a single word being spoken. Yen'fay knew exactly what it was, and what it meant, and he asked,

"Who is it you're engaged to?"

Say'ri turned her head a little to be looking at Robin, who darted his eyes back and forth from Say'ri to Yen'fay. He wasn't exactly sure what to say, so he simply announced,

"That would be me."

"And who are you?"

"My name is Robin, I'm the lead tactician for the Shepherds."

"... And what do you think? Would I be a deserving brother for her?"

Robin straightened his back with a visible discomfort, once again completely unsure of what to say. Say'ri was about to speak up, when Yen'fay announced,

"Certainly anyone who loves her half as much as any fiancé ought to would have some opinion on the matter."

At this remark, it was now much more personal to Robin, and he almost immediately responded,

"I'll tell you one thing; Say'ri wasn't lying earlier. She's been tormented by nightmares and memories of that battle for years now, and if nothing else, I would want you with us only to try and sate some of that misery... To fill the hole in her heart that the Yen'fay of this world left behind."

Yen'fay hummed as he considered this statement, which irritated Say'ri.

"Do not judge him as if you must give him your blessing when you still refuse to think we are siblings!"

Yen'fay ignored this, and asked,

"You wear the robes of a Plegian, sir Robin, and yet you are the tactician for an Ylissean dispatch. You even speak and fight like an Ylissean, why is that?"

Both Say'ri and Robin inhaled nervously at this, and Robin hesitantly responded,

"That's… A really long story." Neither of them thought that the truth of the situation would make for a very good first impression.

Yen'fay raised one eyebrow in curiosity, and responded,

"Well, I would join your company just to hear it, if nothing else."

Say'ri raised her head at this, and asked,

"Wait, then you are….?"

"Yes, I will accept your conditions… Sister."

Say'ri immediately ran towards him, and wrapped both arms around his center as she started to release all the tears she had been holding back the whole time. For a moment, Yen'fay was resistant, but as much as he would try to maintain his demeanor, and would remind himself that he was a traitor and failure, it was impossible to reject this opportunity to take everything back.

Here she was, the one thing that he loved, and wanted to protect more than anything else in the world. The thing he had lost, that he wished he had died for but failed to. He knew he would never forgive himself for his mistakes, but having his sister back with him would make it so much easier.

After a few moments, he placed his arms on her back, and held her as well. He didn't start to cry, but he certainly far from it either.

It wouldn't be until later in the day that Say'ri would completely explain the Shepherd's current situation, and Yen'fay would realize that his to-be brother-in-law was the human manifestation of the Dragon God of Death and Destruction. This was slightly unnerving to him, but he could tell they were very happy together, and that was enough.

All Yen'fay really wanted now was to keep Say'ri, his sister, happier than the one of his world.


	26. Chapter 26

**\- This was a little something that I wasn't going to write, but one pretty chill dude who's left a review on like every chapter so far basically requested that I do it, so here it is. See? That's the perks of leaving reviews, people!**

 **Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

Morgan and Yen'fay stared at each other in silence for a long time, neither of them completely comfortable with how to approach a conversation with the other. Yen'fay was always going to be hopelessly protective of his sister, so the idea that she was not only married, but had her own _child_ , was unnerving to say the least. Morgan, however, had heard very much about her newly-discovered uncle from both of her parents. Both of them would tell her of his heroism, loyalty, sacrifice, et cetera, but she had formed her own opinions from these stories. To her, he sounded more like a traitor than anything.

She glared at him with a certain disappointed aura, and Yen'fay had no idea why. He simply stared back uncomfortably, before saying,

"... So, child, what do you think of your mother." He still hardly knew Robin, so he decided to go with the one thing that really connected him and Morgan.

Morgan recognized this, and twitched a little at his simplicity. "...My father tells me she's been through a lot."

Yen'fay's discomfort only increased at this obvious blow towards his actions. He was still completely unsure of what to say, so he responded as honestly as he could.

"Yes, she has been through very much hardship. More than myself or your father would ever wish upon her."

Morgan was unimpressed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Yen'fay, moreso that she didn't believe someone could come back from what he had done and still be half as dedicated as before. To her, Yen'fay was severely lacking in the loyalty department.

He recognized this, and followed up by saying,

"Therefore, I hope that my presence will possibly help to sate some of those hardships. Your father has already informed that her nightmares have become less… severe since my arrival. But you tell me; You are her daughter, you of all people should know what makes her happy."

Though he did not do this completely intentionally, Yen'fay had just given the perfect response. The truth was, Morgan didn't have a very good idea of what made her mother happy. They hadn't even known each other for more than a year. Morgan hadn't even yet had the opportunity to buy her mother a birthday present. Morgan had already made a rather personal blow towards Yen'fay, and he had just countered it by doing the exact same thing.

Morgan had great respect for anyone who could hold an argument well, and when she realized the brilliance of this rebuttal, she couldn't help but be impressed by her uncle. Yen'fay, however, was very concerned about his last remark, and worriedly said,

"Wait, I- I did not mean to mock you by saying that, I-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it. If you weren't family I'd probably be pretty mad about pointing out my amnesia like that, but eh."

"No, I- What?"

"What?"

"That is a very odd mentality to have."

"What's odd about it?"

"That you would simply allow your own family to openly mock you like that."

"Well hey, I mean, all that Mom and Dad really ever tell me is how important family is, so I'd better live up to that. It's not like I can get super mad at you for it."

"Yes, that's true, family is extremely important, which is why I am apologizing to you. I had no intention of mocking you."

Morgan was a little surprised by this,

"...You didn't mean to bring up my amnesia earlier?"

"No, that was completely by accident, I meant no offense whatsoever. I may have only just met you, but you are still my niece, and I would never disrespect you like that."

Though this meant that any respect Morgan had for Yen'fay as a debater was gone, it revealed a newer, more ethical side to Yen'fay. Prior to this, Morgan had minimal respect for Yen'fay morally. He betrayed her mother, and plagued her with nightmares for the rest of her life.

But now, he seemed so sincere about his ideals that it seemed pointless to call them into question any longer, but she still did.

"Hey… What do you think of my father?"

"Sir Robin?"

"You hardly have to call him 'sir', being your brother-in-law and everything."

"I… More than anything I am surprised that Say'ri would pursue love. In the time I knew her growing up I never thought of Say'ri as the kind of person who would want nor need a man in her life. But, they clearly love each other very much, and Robin was clearly able to provide some much-needed support in a time that was very difficult for my sister, which I have endless respect for."

Now, Morgan was properly convinced. She flashed a smiled at him.

Yen'fay didn't smile much, but he managed to pull together a half-smile in response.

Morgan chuckled a little at his obvious struggle, and said,

"Alright, well, I'll see you around Yen'fay."

"See you."


	27. April 1st

**\- Happy April Fools Day, y'all. -**

Robin, Say'ri, Morgan, and Yen'fay were all in the same room, standing across from each other.

Suddenly Robin came to a shocking realization and called out,

"Why is my entire family wearing purple clothing?!"


	28. Chapter 28

**\- Oh man we're gettin' real close to the end right now, aren't we? Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

"Milord, how does a man challenge a mountain?! Where would one even strike?!"

Chrom didn't know how to answer this question. No one did. Even for all of the monstrous, supernatural forces the Shepherds had faced so far, they were all nothing compared to the nightmare above them. The situation seemed hopeless.

Robin was still standing above Aversa's defeated corpse. There was something strange about her, and the battle they just had. The entire time leading up to then she fought relentlessly; Fulfilling Grima's resurrection and Validar's dream was her entire life, and for all Robin knew about her, he expected her to resist death and continue fighting until her last breath.

But in the final moments of her life when its end was inevitably approaching, she was happy. She wasn't done, she hadn't killed the Shepherds, her supposed purpose hadn't yet been completely fulfilled, and yet Robin could hear her clear as day saying,

"Ahh...finally... Sweet...death... Finally...the pain... F-finally...it ends…"

Robin already had enough moral dilemmas plaguing his mind at this point, but something about that stuck with him. Why would she be happy to die? What pain? What was _really_ her purpose? Did she really want to be Validar's assistant? How could anyone ever be happy to die?

Suddenly Robin wished she hadn't died, if nothing else to take the opportunity to understand her, who she was. Clearly there was a curious story to be told here, and now he would never hear it.

All of these thoughts were rushing through his head, hardly addressing the issue of Grima, until he heard the voice of Naga saying to them,

"I can send you onto the dragon's back, but the rest is in your hands."

Chrom immediately responded,

"Then please, milady, and quickly! We would ask no more of you. Everyone, gird yourselves! One way or another this ends here!"

Robin turned to be facing the rest of his company and started to fumble over his beginnings, calling out to the Shepherds,

"Wait, Hold on- Ignore that order! Naga, wait one second!" It takes a special kind of commanding officer to tell a God to wait for his order, but given Robin's lineage, if anyone were to do so it was only fitting that it would be him.

Robin approached Chrom and said,

"Chrom, what are you saying? You heard Naga earlier, it's gonna be hell up there. How can you expect us to just go for it when we just finished fighting our toughest battle yet?!"

"We don't have a choice, Robin! Grima is awake and directly above us, there's only one possible time for us to do this, and it is right now!"

"What about our dilemma from earlier?"

Chrom made a confused expression, not sure what Robin was talking about.

"The one about me sacrificing myself?"

"Oh for the- I told you! There's no way you're doing it!"

"That is not a discussion! That's just you ordering me what to do! I need to know what I'm doing, it's important for what strategy I'm laying out!"

Chrom had lost all of his patience. Robin may be his best friend, but right now, he was on his very last nerve.

"Fine, fine! You know what? I'm the highest ranking officer in this force, and now I am officially commanding you that you are not going to sacrifice yourself! So just use whatever strategy doesn't make that happen, got it?! Alright Naga, let's go!"

Robin was taken aback but Chrom's sudden outburst, but he understood its purpose. Say'ri had been listening in on this entire conversation, and was looking at Robin with a concerned expression. Robin thought about her, and Chrom, and the rest of his family in the Shepherds. He didn't want to leave them, nor did any of the Shepherds want that either.

But then he thought about Aversa. Peace in death. If he did allow himself to vanish, he would be saving the world for all eternity. It was an opportunity with so little driving him away from seizing it, and if he didn't seize it, he may regret it for the rest of his life. What's a life of misery worth compared to a death with purpose?

Robin still hadn't reached his answer when everything suddenly went white as Naga transported them to the Dragon's back.


	29. Chapter 29

**\- And here we see the final battle chapters: The one thing that shows up in every fe fanfic ever. Let's hope this nerd does a better job with it than most.**

 **Leave a review and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

Everything came back to Robin in an instant.

The ground was hard, but not like stone or wood, more like some kind of ceramic. He quickly realized that it wasn't ground at all, but the scales on the back of massive beast beneath them. The next thing that hit them was the wind, and it was hard to brace themselves for it on the smooth, curved surface.

There was a strange serenity to it, though. None of them had ever been this high up, where the only sound anyone could hear was the wind blowing through their ears, and the flapping of Grima's wings.

Then, they saw him, their target: Grima's human manifestation further up the dragon's back, just barely a hundred yard away. Just past that they could start to see the Ferox coast. As it stood, Grima was above the ocean, but it wouldn't be long before he would reach the shore and start properly unleashing his destructive power. Robin knew he had to end this battle swiftly.

However, just as he was about to call the order to get into combat pairs, thousands of translucent spikes appeared from nowhere beneath them.

This attack didn't exactly injure them, so much as it made them weak. The simplest actions, even just standing or talking took all of their energy, and their muscles strained even just to breath.

Chrom fell to his knees and started gasping in agony, and said,

"Wh-what... What manner of magic…"

Basilio was the first to respond, "Magic? That was a damned…" he paused a moment to breath, "catastrophe..! We can't fight him like this… We're too weak."

Lucina started to scream something about the darkness she feared finally happening, as did several other shepherds, but Robin ignored them.

Suddenly, a cacophonous voice spoke out to them,

"And so it ends, Robin. Do you see now? How how frail these human bonds of yours are? How short lived? How pointless? You have all thrown your lives away, and the result is the same!"

Say'ri was near Robin from the start, and during these events had hobbled her way over to him. She collapsed into his back and put her hands on his shoulders.

Robin looked at her, and his panicked comrades. He didn't know how they could ever win in this condition, but he couldn't just give up now. He called out,

"We're not dead yet!"

"You humans with your petty little details. What does it matter that you still breath when your death is already inevitable? This whole time you have been trying to change what was prophesied, and look how far that got you!" He let out a condescending laugh, which infuriated Robin. Lucina, however, remained terrified.

"Now then…" he continued, "Why don't we make this quick? You all knew this was coming anyways."

Robin funnelled all of the rage and fury he had for the doppleganger before him in his simple response,

"No!"

"No? Of course not… You don't want this, do you? Well, neither do I."

Robin, along with the rest of his company, was confused at this.

"You and I are linked, after all. I can't kill you, so instead, I'll offer you a choice; You may either become one with me, have just as much control over our actions as I do, and spare your friends… Or you may refuse, in which case you shall watch as I turn them into nothing more than piles of dust!"

Chrom and Lissa didn't even get the chance to give Robin any advice in this decision before Robin called back,

"Like Hell!"

Grima looked at him with a scornful expression,

"You and I may be the same person, but I'll tell you one thing; You're one shitty liar!"

Grima's impatience only grew at this remark.

"I'm not gonna control anything if I join you, it'll probably only make you stronger, won't it?!"

Robin would have said more, but Grima spoke up before he could,

"Fine, then. Here I thought you would seize the opportunity to die heroically, but that is clearly no priority of yours."

Suddenly, the space beneath Robin ripped open in a crude, dark crack. It pulled Robin in, and he was too weak to try and fight its grip. Say'ri was still clinging to him, butit was too much for her as well. She couldn't even reach her hand in. He vanished into the darkness of the pit, and Say'ri was left alone, starting to weep.

…

At first, Robin thought there was a mirror before him, but he soon realized it was only Grima's human form. Robin looked all around him for some idea of where he was, but saw nothing but dark void. He looked at Grima and asked,

"What is this? Where have you taken me now?"

Grima smiled, and said, "Somewhere where you will no longer be a problem."

Robin clenched his fists in anger, as if he was readying to fight. Grima clicked his tongue and said,

"Oh, Robin, problematic as ever. Will you ever learn how small you are? How little you matter? Maybe you will once I've dealt with your 'friends'. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Grima started to vanish from the dark space until Robin said,

"You're nothing to me…"

Grima stopped, and slowly turned back to Robin with a furious expression. Robin continued,

"I could kill you right now if you would just stop using these petty tricks."

Robin feared Grima. Everyone did. But more importantly, Robin understood Grima. He knew that Grima was no God, he was just like any other intelligent creature. And, like any other creature, certain things would please him, and other things irritate him. And nothing irritated Grima more than insulting his power.

"You...You still defy me yet?!"

Robin braced himself for whatever Grima was about to unleash.

"Then I will simply have to destroy you first!"

His attack came out of nowhere. As the unholy fire swept over Robin, his mind was violated by a range of stimuli more excruciating and chaotic than anything he had experienced before. No blade, tome, or near-fatal injury could even begin to compare to the indescribable pain, as if every nerve in his body was tormented with such searing affliction until the nerve had been killed, and burned from his body entirely.

Robin fell on his back, and could hear Grima laughing as he did so, followed by something about "Staying with him until he was completely dead", but Robin wasn't sure. He wasn't paying attention. His every conscious thought was either dedicated to the pain, or his friends.

Robin could feel himself dying, like pure evil was moving through him, disabling every part of him one by one. His hearing was starting to deafen, but he didn't care, all he was going to hear in this place was Grima's laughter...

Until he heard something else: A voice. He wasn't sure who's at first, but shortly after, he was able to identify the voice as Chrom's.

It grew louder, and more voices joined in. Soon it was loud enough that Grima could hear it as well, and even surpassed him in volume.

"What is that? Silence! Be silent you foolish-!"

Robin couldn't hear him anymore. He heard Chrom, and Lissa, and the voices of all of his friends on Grima's back desperately calling out to their last hope of survival.

A bright light broke through the darkness of the void surrounding him, and Grima called out,

"How- That's not possible! How is this possible?!"

Through the light came the tip of a blade belonging to Falchion, and as the brilliant glare cascaded over his body, Robin could feel his strength returning to him. The blade moved to crack the darkness open further as Robin pulled himself off the ground.

He turned to face an enraged Grima, and just as he launched another attack, Robin threw himself into the light.

…

Robin was slightly blinded by the sunlight when he returned to Grima's back. He felt someone squeeze his chest, and someone else put a hand on his shoulder. As his vision slowly returned, he identified the two as Say'ri and Chrom, both still in a limping, weakened state.

Only moments after, however, Grima returned at the base of the Dragon's neck, and upon his arrival, warriors appeared on all sides of the Dragon's back. Robin was about to lose all the hope he had a moment ago, when a familiar divine voice rang out,

"Children of man, take my power! Rise now, and face the fell dragon!"

A shining aura surrounded them as they felt their strength returning, but no one hesitated. They were all ready for battle, and not a single celebratory or encouraging word was said before Robin called out,

"Shepherds, get in your pairs!"


	30. Endgame

**-Here it is, folks! The big one! The moment y'all've been waiting for! Leave a review, and I y'all enjoy. -**

Robin saw his opening. Trying to land a hit on Grima with the dragon's massive head behind him was nearly impossible, but Say'ri had pulled its attention far enough to one side, leaving Robin on the other, that now he had his chance. His Levin sword had broken earlier in the battle, leaving him with a Thoron on its last legs, and a silver longsword. Robin lunged forward, and closed the yards between him and his doppelganger in an instant.

Grima moved to dodge his first attack, but Robin anticipated this, and curved his strike down to cut open a small gash in his lower side. Grima may have had the soul of a dragon, but it was still the body of a human. No amount of demonic sorcery would make him feel pain or suffer wounds any less than a regular man. Grima winced, giving Robin the time he needed to rotate his grip, and pull his arm back, ripping a long, deep gash in Grima's chest.

Grima opened his mouth to scream in agony, but no one could hear over the Dragon, who let out such an agonizing loud roar, that the Shepherds couldn't stop themselves from covering their ears. As Grima fell on his back, the energy keeping the risen warriors alive rushed out of them, leaving hollow suits of armor in their place. The Dragon was weak after this injury, and could barely keep itself in the air, let alone drive an entire army of undead warriors.

Grima was about to say something, possibly beg for mercy, but Robin anticipated this as well, and stepped on his throat to silence him. Robin raised his sword above Grima, the tip only inches away from his flesh, and looked at the defeated God's face, expecting to see such incomparable rage and disappointment that would only confirm his judgement that Grima must be banished permanently.

But instead, he saw something else. He saw fear. Fear of defeat. Fear of permanent death. He had grown to know the face well during his adventures, but none were quite as passionate as the terrified expression beneath his boot. He hesitated, but he wished he hdan't, for that split second of doubt was enough time for an all too familiar voice to call his name from behind him.

He didn't want to discuss it, he had made up his mind, any discussion would only inevitably lead him to think he should stay. He knew that they would hate him for leaving the Shepherds without a single word or consideration, but what did that matter? He was saving the world, and he wouldn't even be alive to hear their resentments.

But now, that was impossible. He turned around to see Chrom running towards him from the far end of the Dragon's back. Robin had deliberately sent him as far away from Grima as possible with hopes that he would not interfere with Robin's execution, but this was evidently to no avail. Then Robin turned to see Say'ri standing several yards away, anxiously holding the handle of the sword at her side. She could tell what Robin really wanted just by watching him. If he didn't want to land the final blow, he would have abandoned the idea a long time ago.

She didn't want him to leave, though. Of course she didn't. Even if she wouldn't technically be "alone" if he did, now that she had Morgan and Yen'fay, no one would ever fill the hole in her heart that Robin would leave behind.

Morgan wasn't much further away than Say'ri, and was kneeling on one leg. She, along with most of the Shepherds, had sustained great injury during the battle, and were waiting to receive medical attention from Brady or Lissa.

Yen'fay was further away, off to one side, but was only slowly moving in the general direction of the Dragon's head.

As Chrom got within speaking range of Robin, he raised on arm and said,

"Robin, wait, just- think about what you're doing for a second."

Robin was still holding Grima down with his foot, his sword still suspended above him.

"I have thought about it, Chrom. I've thought about killing Grima for a while now."

"Okay! But just- Think about _us_ for a second!"

"I have thought about you! You, and your daughter! What do you think she wants? She only came here to save the future, and here it is: the chance to save all humanity _permanently_."

Lucina was a little ways behind Chrom, and some people darted their eyes at her at this remark.

Chrom, however, was losing his patience with Robin and quickly responded,

"Why don't you think about _your_ daughter? And your wife, and everyone here who loves you and doesn't want you to just vanish into thin air?!"

"But this isn't about them! It isn't even about me, or you, or anyone; This is about all of humanity!"

Chrom immediately responded,

"But it doesn't have to be!"

Robin had a rebuttal ready until Say'ri joined in on the conversation.

"But it has always been about us! You said it yourself, Robin; Everything you can remember doing has been for me, or Morgan, or the Shepherds! Why abandon that now?"

She was starting to tear up, which quickly set Robin on the same track. He held the sword tighter and said,

"Say'ri, please don't stop me from doing the right thing…" He couldn't bring himself to yell at her the same way he did at Chrom.

She didn't respond. She hardly needed to, for her face alone expressed all of her thoughts for her. He looked back at Grima to see that his expression was unchanged, and that the Dragon was getting dangerously close to the shore.

Whatever decision he was going to make, he had to make it now…

 **Go to Endgame: Path A for Robin to land the final blow, or Endgame: Path B for Chrom to do it instead.**


	31. Endgame: Path A

**-Path A: the masochistic option. -**

Robin bit his lip and squeezed the blade in his hand, before releasing all the tension in his shoulders and sighing.

"...Fine. You've convinced me." He swallowed in apprehensive regret, and looked back at Chrom before saying,

"Do whatever you're going to do."

He threw his sword off to the side, and lifted his foot from Grima's neck, leaving him hacking and coughing for air. As he walked away from the body, Say'ri ran towards him, and wrapped her arms around his chest. She pulled her head away to look at him, only to see a completely emotionless face. It was hardly that he was feeling nothing at all, but rather felt so many things at once that he couldn't begin to properly express any of them. Say'ri recognized his conflict, and put one hand on his face to try and console him. His expression didn't change at all. He only leaned forward, whispered something into her ear, and kissed her.

Meanwhile, Chrom had approached Grima's defeated body, and raised Falchion high above his head. Everyone but Robin and Say'ri was watching, anxiously anticipating the defining mark of the end of all their struggles. Grima no longer looked scared, only amused, but in a cruel, sadistic way. He coughed once as if he was about to say something, but he was interrupted.

A bright yellow flash just missed Chrom's leg, and completely obliterated Grima's head and left shoulder.

Chrom jumped back in surprise, then turned around to see Robin, one arm still completely extended. Say'ri wasn't unnerved, only sad. It wasn't until the ends of his coat started to dissolve into glowing, weightless particles that tears began to fall down the sides of her face.

Robin looked at Chrom, then Morgan, then all of the Shepherds. He took a deep breath as he absorbed their horrified expressions, and announced to all of them,

"This isn't goodbye."

He looked down at Say'ri, and repeated the same words to her quietly, then kissed her. He held this kiss for the remaining time he was still with them. Morgan screamed his name and started sprinting towards him, followed by Chrom and several others, but they weren't fast enough. Robin was gone and Say'ri was unconscious before any of them made it, and Morgan collapsed shortly after.

Chrom was about to start crying, until there was a bright flash of light as Naga transported their company to a nearby cliff, from which they could watch the dissolving corpse of the great dragon come crashing down. No one was celebrating. The only people making any noise were the people who were crying, and Yen'fay, who was trying to wake up his niece and sister.

It wouldn't be until much later on that Chrom would get them to properly regroup, and say some words about their victory, and the terrible expense at which it came. Everyone had something to say about Robin, but it wasn't until Yen'fay had the chance to speak that he redirected their attention to his last words.

"'This isn't goodbye.' Can you not see what this means? He has not left you without a trace. Far from it. He has left you with the very thing that has driven you, and never abandoned any of you since even the very beginning of your struggles; Hope. Expectation. Some dream or aspiration that we can only pray to the Gods above will someday come to us, but until it does, all we can do is hope."


	32. Endgame: Path B

**-Path B: The shorter, less popular, but probably more realistic option. -**

Robin tightened his grip on the blade, before sighing and saying,

"You're right…"

He pulled his boot off of Grima's neck, leaving him hacking and gasping for air, then threw his sword off to one side. He faced Chrom first, who was already looking more relaxed, then turned his gaze over to Say'ri.

"...It's always been about you… And it always will be."

He smiled at Say'ri, who immediately ran over to him and wrapped both arms around his chest. They both started crying, but they weren't sad. This was one of the happiest moments they had ever shared, and Robin had finally accepted that the greatest blessings and opportunities he would ever have would lie in his family, and always had. Morgan still wasn't completely able to walk, but she let her head fall back in relief at her father's decision.

As Chrom walked towards Grima, he tapped Robin's shoulder to get his attention, and everyone on the Dragon's back looked on in anticipation as he raised Falchion high over the God's defeated corpse.

In the last moments of his life, Robin thought he saw Grima starting to smirk at him, but he may have simply been losing consciousness. He had lost so much blood that he was hardly even alive, and what little life was still left him was immediately cut off by the blade breaking through his ribs, and ripping open his heart.

The Dragon let out another earsplitting screech as it started to fall out of the sky, which was followed by a bright flash as Naga transported the Shepherds to a nearby hill. It was here that they all cheered as they watched the beast come crashing into the ground, and start to decay away into nothing but a massive skeleton. Most of the couples kissed each other, and anyone who didn't ran over to Chrom or Robin. They managed to get Chrom off the ground and carry him around in excitement, but try as they might, they could not separate Robin from Say'ri.


	33. Resurrection: Part 1

**\- This is a continuation from Finale: Path A, the one where Robin sacrifices himself. I know it's been a while, I took another temporary hiatus for school work. But hey, it's not like many people read this anyways, so I'm not letting many people down.**

 **Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

The day was warm, unseasonably so or this early in the Summer. It wasn't hot enough for the gentle breeze that passed through the tall grass in the area to provide any real relief, but it was just enough to make the air a perfectly comfortable temperature for a walk. This part of the countryside had become less and less untouched as it slowly became more and more like a tourist attraction. The field remained as green and lively as ever, but the path was more worn down than it was so many years ago just before the first Plegian war.

The party currently approaching the spot had frequented it more than anyone, but not in recent history. Any memories they once associated with it had become all too miserable for any of them to want to handle, but today was an exception, and the group was slightly larger than it was the first time they had passed through here.

Instead of just Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick, they were now also accompanied by Sumia, Cordelia, and Stahl and Sully acting as an escort. Although, having two retainers was hardly necessary; it wasn't a long distance from the capital, and the Exalt alone could defend himself just as well as they could. But if nothing else, they simply wanted a reason to participate in this little field trip themselves.

"Is the walk really this long?! It feels like we've been walking forever!"

Chrom chuckled at his little sister who, despite all the years and tragedies that had passed, seemed no more grown up than he ever remembered her being. He replied,

"It probably just feels that way since we haven't been here in a while."

Frederick offered to let Lissa ride on the back of his horse, as she and Chrom were the only ones not on horseback, but she refused; she didn't want to take away from the sentiment of walking back to this spot on foot. She was even wearing the same outfit as she was when they first found him here. Chrom joined her in this, even when he knew he'd just have to change back into a more royal attire later that afternoon.

To someone just visiting the region for the first time, the gently rolling hills in this area must have seemed identical, but something about this one made it so easy for this company to tell apart from the others. They weren't really sure what it was; the placement of the flowers, the way the path curved so partially to the left as it went up the slope, or something else entirely, but whatever it was, it made this one hill so special that they could tell they were approaching it even if they were blindfolded. Not at the top, but right around the area that the slope starts to level out on the far side, where one wouldn't have to make a conscious effort to stay upright, was where they were headed. The slow ascent up the path towards the top felt like a death march.

They didn't necessarily expect anything other than nostalgia to come from visiting this place, or even if they did anticipate something else, they wouldn't admit it. But for some seemingly inconsequential reason all of them hoped that he would be there. It was preposterous, but they hoped for it anyways. The only way any of them had ever seen someone return from the dead was whenever they were fighting risen, and those were all but extinct since Grima was killed. But something that Naga had said stuck with all of them.

That if the bonds that tied him to the men of this earth were strong enough, he could possibly free himself from his lineage, and return from the dead.

Time came to a grinding halt as the company forced themselves to drag one foot in front of the other up the hill. They all knew what they were going to see: the same old patch of grass, not even pressed down or disturbed in any way. Frederick was ready to believe that some crazed Grimleal sympathizer would have torched the area at this point. But regardless, none of them expected to find even so much as a thread of purple cloth anywhere nearby.

Most of them were looking at their feet, not wanting to accept the inexorable reality before them, until Lissa looked up to see how far they were form the curved top of the hill. Something flashed, and caught her eye. She stayed focused on it as it glared in the sun, continuing to let out a bright, bronzish-yellow glow that just barely poked through the blades of grass, until she finally recognized the color.

It was gold.

A shimmering gold just like the one that lined Robin's coat.

She squinted to peer through the grass and try and make out what was around the bright metal and, as she anticipated, she could just make the matte, lavender fabric.

She gasped, and took off in a sprint. Chrom didn't even say a word before he saw what she was doing, and immediately followed suit. Frederick yelled from behind them, but quickly put it together himself, and started after them, followed by the others.

...

"Chrom, we have do something!"

"I- What do you propose we do?"

"I-I don't know, but we have to do something!"

As soon as she finished this sentence, Robin let out a groan, and started to pry his eyes open. It felt he had just woken up from a long nap, but wasn't well rested at all. In fact, he still felt completely exhausted.

Then, all of his memories flooded back into him in an instant. The war, the battle with Grima, the heat, the combat, all of it. And immediately following this, he suddenly started to gain an awareness of where he was now. It was cooler than he remembered it being on Grima's back, less windy too. His head hurt, and he remembered being hit in one of his temples by the butt of a lance during the battle. When he went to move his arm to hold his head, it was heavier than he expected, and he looked to see he was still wearing two scratched pauldrons; one on his shoulder, another on his forearm.

Then, he lifted his head to see them, surrounding him in silent anticipation, holding their breaths waiting for him to say something. Instead, he leaned his entire upper body forward, and started to push himself up with his arms, until Chrom reached out and offered him a hand. Robin took it, and with one big, heave, he was back on his feet. His balance was a little off, but not so much that he was leaning noticeably to one side or another.

Everyone was thinking the same things at lightning fast speed, until the shock and awe slowly began to transform into excitement and rejoice, and Robin finally spoke.

"...Where is Say'ri?"

This was it. The one thing they needed to confirm what they really already knew; it was Robin. He was back. By some astounding impossible work of the gods he was back. Lissa rushed forward wrapped her arms around his lower body, and Chrom hugged him as well. In no time Lissa was properly crying, and so was Sumia, who couldn't stop herself from dancing joyously in place. Chrom was starting to tear up, while Stahl, Sully, and Frederick looked on from their horses, still in stunned disbelief.

There was a lot of laughing, crying, rejoicing, and even a kiss on the cheek before anyone really spoke again. They knew that words would never live up to the joy of this moment. It wasn't for some time that Chrom finally spoke up and said,

"Oh Gods, Robin, it is good to have you back."

Lissa was still hugging Robin's lower torso, and he was crying as well at this point, but he still responded,

"I'm glad to be back. I- I'm happy I didn't have to give my whole life for that kind of sacrifice, I… It's a miracle."

Sully chimed in, "I'll say. 'Miracle' is putting it lightly."

Robin laughed once, and continued, "If I had known I would just come back like this, I wouldn't have ever second guessed myself about the decision…"

He shared a grin with Chrom and the others, then finished, "Oh, and I don't think any of you have answered my question yet. Where is Say'ri? Probably in Chon'sin, right?"

Chrom chuckled once, then answered, "She's in Yllistol actually… All of the Shepherds are."

"...Why? Did you never disband them?"

"No, it's a holiday actually. One that I felt all of us should be together for."

Robin tilted his head to the side, trying to think of any Ylissean holiday that happened remotely around this time of year, when in truth, there were none. He was only further confused when all of the others started grinning at him.

"It's um… It's a holiday for you. We all agreed on calling it "Tactician's Day", and that it would be celebrated on the anniversary of when we found you here in this field."

It was really no wonder at that point why he would come back on that day then. All of the Shepherds in one place that had so much meaning to Robin made their ties to him as strong as possible.

Robin was initially flattered by this news, and responded,

"Oh man, that's- I'm honored, I really didn't think that I…" But then he trailed off. The edges of his mouth fell as he started thinking again, and soon came to a grim realization.

He looked at Chrom and said, "Wait, you first found me in early Summer, around the end of June, but we were fighting Grima in August…"

Chrom inhaled sharply as he finally caught on to Robin's train of thought.

"...Chrom, how long have I been gone? Have I really been gone for almost eleven months?"

Chrom was about to answer that when Frederick spoke up and said, "A week and a half from now will mark the end of the thirty-fifth month, actually."

Robin froze. Chrom didn't want Frederick to say that, but he wasn't angry at him. Robin deserved to know one way or another, and it was best not sugarcoat it.

Robin was tense, and was starting to tear up again. Not from joy, but from fear, and sorrow.

"...Three years… She's been all alone for three years." Chrom was about to say something when Robin continued,

"When I saw that all of you hadn't aged much I assumed that maybe it hadn't even reached the end of the season- that maybe I hadn't been gone for too long- but three years…" He trailed off again.

No one was really sure what to say, but Chrom spoke up, "Robin, listen, she's- She's been alright. She's had Morgan and Yen'fay with her, and we've all been there for her too… I can't think of anyone who didn't visit her in Chon'sin at least once between now and Grima's defeat."

Robin's expression didn't change.

"I… I need to go see her now."


	34. Resurrection: Part 2

**\- Bit of a shorter chapter this time around. I didn't wanna merge it with what I'm planning for the next chapter, because then it would be way too long. I try to keep these chapters around 1,100 words with some standard deviation, but when they stray too close to 1,500 or below 700 I start to get a little anxious. 'Cause I mean, 1,500 words is already a proper high school research paper, and that's enough reading that I wouldn't want to do much more than that in one sitting. Plus, I try to crank to crank this chapters out at a pretty good clip, and upwards of that many words a day is a pretty repelling concept.**

 **So anyways, there'll be a longer chapter later this week if not tomorrow. Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

The walk back to Yllistol castle wasn't just Robin sulking over how long he had been gone. The others were far too happy to have him back to allow that to happen. Lissa didn't even let go of him until they were already halfway through the walk, and Chrom managed to convince Robin that all the others would be just as happy to see him as well.

The best part of the walk, though, was when they had made it into the city limits of the capitol. The festivities for Tactician's Day hadn't really started yet, but the citizens were certainly preparing already. The holiday had been celebrated the year before, and the idea was in place long before that, which was more than enough time for it to become well situated in the minds of the people. It seemed like every shop, corner, and household had some kind of banner or streamer to celebrate the occasion. Robin received numerous compliments for how high quality his cloak was compared to the countless other young people who had made their own, completely unaware of who they were really talking to. The entire company blended in perfectly, and the people on the street would guess they were a re-enacting crew or some actors just as soon as they would guess they were looking at the actual Shepherds.

There was a wide street that led directly up to the castle that acted both as a parade route for some occasions, as well as a marketplace on most days. Both sides of the road were lined with businesses and restaurants, eagerly preparing for what would certainly be one of their most profitable days all year.

As the party walked down this main street towards the palace, Lissa suddenly spoke up,

"Oh, wait! Chrom! We have to take him down there first!" She pointed towards a wide alley that broke off from the road.

Chrom's face lit up as he realized what she was referring to, then just as excitedly agreed and guided all of them in between the buildings on either side of the road.

The path wound through some larger warehouses, before taking two sharp turns, and leading into a large pavilion, with a tall bronze statue standing in the center.

The right arm of the statue was stretched out in front of it, holding a levin sword perpendicular to the ground, with an open tome in the left hand, which stayed collapsed in towards the statue's torso. It was impossible to get the proper effect of the billowing cloak and still keep the statue stable, so the tails of the jacket remained closer to the legs, which didn't quite live up to the dramatic image Chrom had initially imagined, but he was satisfied with the result regardless.

Robin, however, was speechless. He was already dazed enough by all the festivities that were entirely dedicated to him, but this put him in a state of total awe. He started to say that it was too much for him, but he trailed off. He could hardly focus enough to keep himself on his feet, let alone conscious, so there was no way he was ready to hold a conversation.

But Chrom and the others realized this, and instead of making him talk, they pulled him over to the base of the statue so he could read the plaque. Lissa and Chrom were practically dancing in place they were so excited for him to read it.

He wasn't even half a paragraph in before he chuckled, and said,

"Doesn't 'Hero Tactician' seem like a little too much of a title?"

Instead of answering, Chrom just motioned at the plaque, indirectly telling him to continue reading. He complied, and it didn't take him long to realize why they were so eager for him to see it.

As his eyes glossed over the text imprinted on the metal slab before him, they started to water, and he let out a happy sigh as the tears finally started rolling down the side of his face. He wasn't a slow reader, he could burn through a novel in less than a day, but this engraving he read very slowly. He read it over and over again, at least five times, his smile growing wider every time he repeated the last few lines in his mind. The others looked at him in silence, soaking in his overwhelming joy, before he finally spoke up again.

"...Did she really write all of this?"

Chrom nodded his head as he responded, "Yup, and if you think this is touching then you should see everything she's put together for you over in Chon'sin.

Robin laughed, as did the others, and he responded,

"This is just… This is amazing. All of this." He paused motioned towards the statue and decorated shops surrounding them, and shook his head for a moment, "I… I really think I should go see her now."

Chrom nodded and agreed, and they continued towards the castle.


	35. Resurrection: Part 3

**\- Yeah, this chapter came out to just under 2,000 words, and if I had merged this into the last chapter it definitely would've gone over 3,000. So, sorry to make ya'll wait, but again, it's not like very many people actually read this drivel anymore, so at least I'm not** **disappointing too many folks.**

 **Leave a review, and I hope y'all enjoy. -**

The main hall of Ylisstol castle was massive, with an incredibly high ceiling and cathedral-like pillars that stretched down from it in fabulous arches, all decorated with royal blue banners. Down the center of the room ran a massive crimson carpet with gold trims, and chandeliers that lit the hall at night hung from hundreds of feet of chain.

The room acted as a hub for castle attendants and political officials, who scurried perpetually across the hall from room to room, hallway to hallway, wing to wing, day and night. Like a beehive, the castle was always alive with the slow-moving gears of politics, especially on such a massive public holiday as today. Not many decorations made their way inside the castle, but there were a number of streamers strewn across the reception desk, where several attendants were expected to provide directions around the castle to visitors and politicians alike. Such a position was mandated by the sheer size and complexity of the castle's layout.

As they came from around the desk to the rear part of the room, they saw two large, wooden doors at the end of hall. They led to a hallway which, after two left turns and one right turn, would lead to the main dining room where the rest of the Shepherds were waiting. Including Say'ri.

They stood several feet away from these doors for some time, considering how to break the fabulous news to the Shepherds. Robin he knew he wanted at least a moment to speak with Say'ri and Morgan alone. There were so many things he needed to tell each of them, and apologize for, that he would never be able to phrase with a hundred other eager friends surrounding him.

He was just starting to discuss this with the others when he realized that they were attracting quite some attention. Prior to this, every official knew there would no actors of impersonators allowed in the castle throughout the day, so they would know the real royal family when they saw them. No one was questioning if the Chrom that stood in the castle right now was the real Chrom, nor if they were looking at the real Lissa, Frederick, Sumia, and so on… but what was Robin doing there? Surely it was an actor, right? Maybe the exalt had just given him special permission for whatever reason, but he really did look just like the statue. Their confusion was only perpetuated when they realized that the armor he wore was still damaged from some battle.

Robin was especially concerned with the several castle guards that were eyeing him down, when he noticed something else that stood out. There were two armed men that stood near the doors at the end of the hall talking to two Ylissean guards, but these men were not from Ylisse. Robin didn't have to look at the curved blades at their sides and the pearl lacquer armor they wore very long to realize that they were from Chon'sin. They must have been sent in the escort team for Say'ri. She was royalty, after all.

Then, Robin had an idea. These two guards were already staring at him with an extent of awe, so it was easy for Robin to get their attention by simply pointing at them. They pointed at themselves to confirm his message, and he nodded in response. As they were approaching Chrom leaned towards Robin and asked what he was doing, to which Robin simply replied, "Don't worry about it."

Once they made their way over, Robin said,

"Good afternoon gentlemen, you two wouldn't happen to be with princess Say'ri's escort crew, would you?"

The first guard responded, still completely dazed by the man in front of him, "Yes, we- Who are you?"

Before Robin could answer, the second guard followed up by asking, "You are not truly… Sir Robin, are you?"

Robin laughed once before responding, "The one and only."

The guards pulled their heads back, and completed each other's sentences as they said, "But that would mean… The prophecy… Did it really happen…? Is it true…?"

Robin scoffed loudly, and shouted out "The prophecy!" He laughed several more times, before muttering to himself, "'Prophecy'... Good Gods, Say'ri what are you doing to your country…?"

Meanwhile, the two guards were completely losing it. One of them yelled something in a tongue that was foreign to Robin, and the other, so tense he could hardly speak, said "Sir, if you are truly Robin, then I... Fie, I am honored! I- We must inform lady Say'ri at once!"

Before they could run off, Robin said, "No, wait, that's what I need your help with."

They looked at him, still shocked, but now curious. He inhaled and continued, "I need you to tell her, Lady Say'ri, that there's someone who wants to speak with her. But don't say who it is! And tell her that he'll only speak to her if she'll come to him in the main hall."

There was a moment of silence before one of them asked, "...Will that be all, sir?"

Robin smiled with his newfound authority, and said, "Yes, and then escort her here… And if she doesn't budge then- I don't know, make something up that'll convince her. Just get her out her without letting her know that it's me, alright?"

The two nodded astutely.

"Alright, you're dismissed." They turned, and rushed towards the doors to the hallway. As they were leaving, Robin called out behind them, "And act natural!"

Robin turned back to his friends, and said jokingly, "And now we wait."

Lissa immediately started laughing her head off, and Sully looked at him with a smug grin and said, "You are evil, Robin."

They all laughed at this, and Robin responded, "Hey, listen, you propose a better idea."

Now Sumia chimed in, "She'll probably faint the moment she sees you! You can't just spring this kind of thing on her out of nowhere!"

"Alright, but if she just went bolting out of the dining room with no context, people would be curious, and would follow her. I'm trying to get her alone, remember?"

Now he turned back to Sully and said, "And hey, I think I got rid of any 'evil' that was in me about three years ago." They all smirked and giggled at this slightly darker humor.

Suddenly, Robin heard the doors open behind him. He whipped around to see a royal advisor and an attendant walking through them, and sighed. The others saw this as well, and Lissa asked,

"Oh man, you're really nervous about this, aren't you?"

"Not nervous, but definitely tense… I mean, it's like you said Sumia, I don't know how she's gonna react when she sees me. She may just faint, for all I know. She may even hate me for abandoning her-"

Chrom cut him off,

"Oh please, that's not gonna happen. Believe me, she's going to love you just as much as always."

Robin laughed, "I certainly, hope-"

He heard the doors open behind him again. He turned around just as quickly as before, and saw the two guards from earlier holding the doors open.

And there she was.

She was wearing something slightly longer and more royal than he ever remembered her wearing, and she was a little more pale, but it was definitely her.

She took about two steps into the room before she looked up and saw him too. Chrom smiled because he swore he could _see_ the moment that her heart rate suddenly spike. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell somewhat ajar.

Then the others couldn't stop themselves from laughing as they watched both of their shoulders drop in perfect synchronization, and the pure shock and awe of the moment started to become a realization of what stood before each of them.

Robin raised and arm and started to say her name, unusually confused as to what she was thinking, but he was interrupted. Without saying anything, Say'ri took off in a sprint. She ran faster than Robin had ever seen before. He moved his feet to brace himself, the others all took a step back, and he raised his arms to receive her.

But, several feet before that, she leapt into the air. She went high, stretching her arms out, and her entire body was parallel with the ground and level with Robin's chest when they finally made contact.

He caught her by the shoulders, then used her momentum to pull her to one side, and swing her around. He curved her body downwards where he thought she would catch herself with her feet, and they could properly stand to face each other. But instead, her entirely lower body failed her, and she fell to her knees, throwing Robin off balance, and bringing him with her, but he didn't really care. They had both been laughing hysterically the entire time.

Joy. Mirth. Bliss. Glee. Ecstasy. Felicity. It was another one of these situations, the second that day, where words were useless. Communication was a liability. No combination of letters and sounds would ever properly begin to represent one one billionth of the emotion in this moment.

Words became so incomparable to this elation that they were able to break the fourth wall, and allow me to say that I'm really not sure how to properly write about this much happiness in one moment.

They simply sat there on their knees, burying themselves in each other's' arms, barely letting out a combination of laughter and crying. They didn't even bother to look at each other for several minutes. Say'ri had not felt anyone's, let alone his, embrace in so long, that to finally have it back with her, right here, right now, in the real world, was nearly more than she could handle.

But eventually, Robin allowed himself to pull his head back to look at her, and she did the same. Their faces were bright red, her's from laughter, his from tears. Still, they said nothing. They only stared into each other's' eyes for a moment, then kissed. Their hands were shaking, and they were holding each other tighter than they could ever remember, but the kiss wasn't forced. It was funnelling an unimaginable amount of emotion behind it, but still remained gentle, and loving. They only held it for a few moments before Say'ri pulled her head away, and let it fall down into his chest again. Only now, he held it there, and ran his hands through her hair, looking past the top of her head, tears still pouring down his face.

Finally, Robin spoke, only barely keeping his words together through choked crying.

"Say'ri… Say'ri I love you… I love you so much, I'm so sorry that I ever left you… I…"

She pulled her head back to look at him again, and moved her hands to the side of his face.

She didn't have to tell him "That doesn't matter" to communicate it.

The others were still watching this, and as much as they wanted to comment on the display before them, they couldn't bring themselves to it. Their discomfort reached its peak around the ten minute mark, but still, they restrained themselves. The circumstances leading up to this were spectacular to say the least, so this moment was the least these two deserved.

Meanwhile, the suspicions of the others in the royal hall had been confirmed; it really was Robin. The legendary hero tactician had returned from the dead after three years. The two guards from earlier were both looking on in glorious excitement for having assisted in this wonderful moment. Later on, Robin would promise each of them a promotion.

It wouldn't be for some time that Say'ri would finally have the strength or control to pull herself off the ground, but even then, she could hardly keep herself up with Robin's help.


	36. Resurrection: Part 4

**\- Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -**

"My love, there is no need for you to ask for my forgiveness, I-" Say'ri's voice cut out, as she was still stumbling on her words from all the tears a moment ago.

The two had made their way back up on their feet again, but they were hardly capable of holding a real conversation. There was so much that they both needed to tell each other, but they could not even begin to process it. Robin simply continued to hold her, giving both of them all of the time they needed to finish their exuberant release of emotion.

Say'ri really did forgive him, but Robin would find that hard to believe for some time. In truth, the only person who he would have trouble convincing to forgive him would be himself, but that was a battle to be fought another time.

Then, Sully spoke up, "Hey, uh, Robin?"

He looked to face her, "I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but y'all have been at this for a while now. Wasn't there, y'know, someone else you wanted to talk to?"

Robin remembered immediately, and said "Yeah, we'd better bring her out pretty soon…" He turned down to be facing Say'ri, who had been listening to their conversation. It took her a moment to realize what they were talking about, but when she finally realized, she sighed heavily, and said,

"Fie, Morgan, of course… Robin, you certainly want to speak to her privately."

"That was the plan." He responded.

"Good, but even then, choose your words wisely. She has not handled your absence quite as well as the rest of us." Robin sighed, and started to say "Oh Gods" before Say'ri spoke up again.

"She does not hate or resent for it or anything of the sort, she has just been… unstable."

Robin waited a moment, biting his lip in thought, before finally saying, "Alright, let's bring her out."

Say'ri nodded once before calling to one of the guards from earlier, "Major! Bring out princess Morgan in the same manner which you brought me out earlier!" The officer nodded once, then left through the double doors.

There was a short pause before anyone spoke, until Robin finally said, "Are you sure it was smart to do that? Y'know surprise her like I did with you?"

Say'ri hardly had to think before answering, "I fear she would not believe the guards if they told her you had returned."

"So it's like that, huh?"

"After you left, she would wake up every day from the same dream that you had returned, and she would pray to the Gods it would come true. But not even the most valiant hearts can sustain that much hope for so long, and she was convinced you would never return."

"Well, I can't blame her for that."

"Of course not. Most of the Shepherds were convinced you were gone for good. But, just because her faith had stopped did not mean that the dreams had as well."

Robin sighed pitifully, "Oh Gods…"

"Every day for at least the past month she has woken from that same dream that you returned, only to cry in her bed to realize that it were not true. It has tormented her like that, and I fear that it has taken a serious toll on her mentally."

They all had been watching the doors at the end of the hall throughout their entire conversation, but it was only now that they finally opened, and there stood Morgan. Her dress for the holiday was all white, with some small highlights, and a simple construction. She was much more pale than Robin remembered her, skinnier too.

She took no more than two steps into the room before looking up and seeing them. She froze in place, and inhaled sharply.

Robin hadn't even said a word, only raised one arm and started to open his mouth, when she cut him off.

"No! Don't say anything! Just- Don't speak!" Almost immediately her eyes started to water, and her entire body to shake. Robin was completely stunned by this outburst, as was almost everyone spectating.

"When you start speaking you… You sound just like him! And it makes me think it's real this time- That he actually came back, but I know it's not true! It's just- It's just another God damned dream!"

By this point she was properly weeping and choking on her own words. It was hard for her to continue speaking, giving Robin an opportunity to speak.

"Morgan, please, I-"

"No! Stop! Please, I know it's a dream, I just…"

She unwillingly fell to her knees, barely keeping her head up from how hard she was crying.

"...I just want to believe that it's real… Just for a little while… I don't want to have to wake up, I just… Oh Gods…" She buried her face in her palms and continued crying, completely unable to control herself.

Robin knew he had to get closer to her, but just as he was getting within a few yards, she noticed him again. She let out a small scream, and jumped to her feet, falling backwards a few steps in the process.

"No! Stay away, that- that's what wakes me up! As soon as you touch me I- I wake up, and then you're gone! D-Don't, please!"

The others looked on throughout this interaction, completely unsure of what to say. Say'ri simply stood a ways behind Robin, one hand covering her mouth, her eyes starting to water again.

"Morgan, you have to believe that it's really me! Just calm down for a moment!" He took another step forward.

"That's what you always say! Every time! Please, just let me sleep, what did I do to- Wait, no! Oh Gods, please!" Robin sprinted towards her and grabbed her. He knew it would terrify her, but she wasn't going to listen to him like this. It was the only way he was going to make her believe it was really him. As he wrapped both arms around her upper body, she closed her eyes and let a long scream, then was totally silent other than a couple sniffles.

Then, after a few moments, she started to open her eyes again. She still felt him wrapped around her. Everything felt the same as before, and it was all so real, and nothing like any of her dreams. She moved her face to be looking at his, still shocked beyond what she had ever felt before.

He said only one thing to her, "I'm so sorry, Morgan," before she passed out, and went limp in his arms.


	37. Resurrection: Part 5

**\- "Yo look at this deadbeat shut-in who has so little of a life that he spends his time writing fanfiction about a game that came out like five years ago." -me. -**

"Hmm… Yeah, she's out cold." Lissa said, "She's not gonna wake up for at least couple hours."

Then Sully spoke up, "Sheesh Robin, you really scared the crap out of her, grabbing her like that."

"I know, I just… I had to something."

Robin was still resting Morgan's upper body in his arms. Say'ri was sitting next to him, with Lissa on Morgan's opposite side. The remainder of their company, including several guards that had come over to watch the incident, surrounded them and looked on from a distance.

Then, Say'ri spoke up, "Robin, I'm sorry, I didn't think she would react like that."

She was going to say more, but then Robin spoke up, "It's fine, it's not your fault, it's just…" He paused a moment to look at Morgan.

"... It's like she was a completely different person, right?" He looked first at Say'ri, then at the others. "Have you ever seen her yell like that? Or even heard her swear? She just sounded so… hopeless. It's nothing like I've always known Morgan..."

He looked back at the unconscious body in his arms, only now noticing that she had sprouted a few grey hairs, and said, "Oh Gods, what have I done?"

"It was not your fault, darling." Say'ri said.

"I know, but it didn't need to… What if I had just-"

Then, Chrom cut him off, "Mourning over the past and asking 'what if' is only going to make all of us more miserable. I'm sorry about Morgan, really I am, but frankly, everyone here was shocked by your returning."

Robin looked at Chrom, seeming rather insulted that he would underrate the importance of his own daughter's reaction.

"But I guarantee that everyone else in the Shepherds will be extremely happy about it, and you shouldn't let the response of one person ruin your mood on the one day that you of all people deserve to be happy. Even if that person is Morgan."

Robin considered this for a moment, then responded, "But do I really deserve to be happy right now? I mean for the love of Naga, look at what I've done to my own daughter…"

Suddenly, Stahl spoke up from a little ways behind Chrom, simply saying, "Uh, guys?"

Everyone turned to face him, and Chrom responded, "Yes, Stahl?"

"For what it's worth," he continued, "Morgan wasn't upset because you came back, let alone that you left in the first place, but rather because she thought she was having another dream, and didn't want to wake up from it… So when she does wake up and figures out that it was real, she'll be happy, right?"

Robin considered this statement for a while, as did everyone. They shrugged and tilted their heads back and forth in thought, until finally Chrom spoke up again,

"At any rate, Robin, we can bring Morgan to her bed, and whenever she wakes up we'll have someone lead her down to wherever you are that point. But right now, you should head into the dining room, and see the rest of the Shepherds before someone else tells them you're back and ruins whatever surprised you've got cooked up for them."

Everyone chuckled at this, including Robin, before he looked back at Morgan for a moment and said, "Believe it or not, I didn't have anything in mind yet, but you're still right."

He slowly laid Morgan's head down and stood up, along with Say'ri.

"Let's go pay the others a visit."

Chrom nodded once, ordered two nearby guards to carry Morgan up to her room (and to do so with great care), and then began leading the group to the dining room.

Robin did end up putting together a small plan to introduce himself; it began with Chrom entering alone and, right inside the door he came through, asking for everyone's attention. Once the entire dining hall was quiet, without saying a word, Chrom opened the door, and held it open as Robin walked in, with Say'ri at his side. Immediately everyone in the room was shocked, and there was a brief moment of complete and utter silence before Robin said,

"So what's the big idea with having a holiday dedicated entirely to me, when I'm the only person who doesn't get an invitation?"

At this point, Robin held on tightly to Say'ri, as he didn't want to get disconnected from her in the mass of people who began moving towards them. The first person to reach him was Nowi, who had an unfair head start because she was already on that side of the room. After that was Cynthia, then Olivia, then, much to Robin's surprise, Lucina. The latter three all hugged him excitedly, although Nowi more jumped on him like an animal than hugged him. The remainder of the room was either too slow to get a hand on him, or simply stood by and cheered.

It was a beautiful moment for the Shepherds, but especially for Robin. It told him that what he did was right, and that he had no reason to question it. Robin knew better than to let the past weigh heavily on him, but to have all of his friends here without a single negative thing to say about his actions expelled any regret he could have possibly had. At no point did anyone have something to say about how their lives were worse off in his absence, instead only speaking of how much better they were going to be now that he had returned, and no one subscribed to that belief more than the woman at his side.


	38. A Letter to the Reader

**Dear Reader,**

 **The writing process for this story has been weird at best, and I sincerely doubt that it's ever going to stop being that way. Allow me to explain...**

 **Flashback to December 29th, 2015. It was four days after Christmas, in the heart of Winter break, when NotTheManYou'reLookingFor uploaded a RobinxSay'ri fanfic. That's right, the entire thing. In one day. All fifteen chapters at one time, full of typos and snarky, nihilistic author's notes at the top of every chapter. One day there was nothing, not even account to upload it from; then the next, there was an entire 13.3k word story. That story got 1.13k views the same day it was uploaded, and 2.21k in its first week.**

 **And then there was nothing.**

 **Other than one or two typo corrections, the author hardly so much as looked back at his own work. The last words he left to his readers were "Yes, I will make more. Be patient. Don't get your knickers up in a bunch." But after more than a year and four months of complete silence, those words seemed to have very little truth to them.**

 **When suddenly, on March 21st, 2017 something beautiful happened.**

 **Hark! Rejoice! A new chapter! And it's longer than the old ones, and better written too! It even over-dramatizes really unimportant parts of the original game! Hooray!**

 **And indeed, the times were good. Very good. Over the coming weeks, the author was posting new chapters nearly every day. The longest time that passed between chapters was five days, but even then, the chapter that** ** _did_** **eventually go up was over 2,000 words long.**

 **The author was much less snarky, and seemed to actually** ** _care_** **about what he was writing, let alone the people who would read it. Between the end of March and early May the Author had uploaded an additional twenty chapters, nearly tripling the story's word count. He actually encouraged people to leave reviews, and started using the story as a genuine opportunity to improve his abilities as a writer.**

 **And then, another great silence.**

 **It wouldn't be until August 25th, 2017 that he would release another chapter, and another one the following day.**

 **Which takes us to the present.**

 **There have been two sizable hiatuses in the creation of this story, and if I'm going to be totally honest, there's probably about to be a third. The simple reality of this story that has always been true and always will be true is that I only work on this story when I am** ** _extremely_** **bored. Whether that be the end of Christmas break in 2015 when I was snowed in and had nothing to do, the end of Spring break in 2017 when all my friends were away and I had nothing to do, or recently the end of summer break when it was too hot and I had nothing to do, I always have some moment in my perpetual boredom when I remember this story and think to myself,**

 **"Oh yeah, that thing. I never did finish that. How about I go back and check on it, see if someone left another review or something."**

 **And then I end up reading wherever I left the story off at the last chapter, have some idea for how I could pick it back up again, and crank out some more chapters. But in time, responsibility shows its ugly face once again and I realize that a fanfiction I was reluctant to writing from the get-go is very low on my list of priorities.**

 **My point is, its gonna be a while before you see anything being uploaded to this story again. Classes are about to start up again, and any time I have for writing is going to be spent on analytical papers or lab reports.**

 **Don't worry, I'll never stop loving Say'ri as a character. That much will always be constant, I just don't get as many opportunities to demonstrate that love as I would prefer. I will finish this story someday, y'all just gotta be patient.**

 **Mark my words.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **NotTheManYou'reLookingFor**

 **P.S. Say'ri is best girl in every series ever.**


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